Rocket Power: Zero Gravity
by DevilBoy216
Summary: Entry 3 in a Nicktoons crossover series. As the years pass, the city of Ocean Shores is now long forgotten, and Team Rocket has gone their separate ways. Now, a strange new threat called The Rippers arriving to cause terror, and Team Rocket must reunite after several years apart to stop them. Rated T for violence, language, marijuana usage, crude humor, and some sexual content.
1. Prologue

**A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR**

 _This story takes place approximately 14 years after the final episode of Rocket Power; 'The Big Day'. It is the third in a series of stories meant to crossover several Nicktoons into a shared universe, and will make a few references to the prior stories. For full context of the references and to fully grasp the shared universe that these stories share, you are recommended to read the prior stories 'Hey Arnold! The Football Head Returns' and 'Danny Phantom: End of Days' to chronologically follow the story._

 _Please note that this story will take influence of various stoner comedies, so many scatological jokes, sexual remarks, and several marijuana references will be made. I apologize if the humor is not to your liking, but it is written to stay accurate to an older interpretation of the characters of the show._

 _Also take note that any and all sporting good brand-names mentioned are made to provide an accurate description to the sports themselves and I have not received any money for doing so. Additionally, as I have not personally tried any of the sports mentioned here (although I would like to), my understanding of it is low. I apologize for any inaccuracies made towards the sports and their fanatics._

 _With that out of the way, enjoy the ride._

* * *

 **PROLOGUE**

For the early years of mankind, many men and women, on their search for new territories to explore, new resources to repurpose to their advantages, have always looked to the skies. Many looked in search for gods, many looked for business, and, after years of exploration and hard work, it seems that the skies have proven very good for human business.

One such business is a discreet shipping company, one that is not recognized by any legitimate market in the country. This company, making stealthy deliveries by air, has been assigned the task of shipping a top-secret piece of technology, one not of this Earth, from the possession of Membrane Laboratories to a wealthy man named Buckley Lloyd residing in the city of Hillwood. His story is better told elsewhere.

Inside the aircraft, the 2 ex-military pilots, being stuck with the task of operating a plane for several hours with nothing else to pass the time, talk to each other to exchange interesting stories in hopes to fight boredom of their job.

"So, tell me again about your leave in France?" One pilot asked.

"Right, so I was stationed in France for a few months, and I got a week of leave that I decided to spend in the city. A lot of people say that Paris is the most beautiful city on Earth, but it's really no different from back home. It's different, but it's just got little differences." The other pilot replied.

* * *

While the two pilots continued their conversation, another plane found its way across the skies, ominously heading towards the plane carrying the technologically advanced cargo within. As the plane was not yet within the pilots' radar just yet, they continued their conversation, unsuspecting and innocently.

* * *

"Gimme an example." The first pilot asked.

"Well, I went to the Nasty Burger and went to get some food, but they don't have Double Pounders with cheese. Know why?" The second pilot asked.

"Cause they got the metric system?"

"Yeah, man, they use the metric system, they got no clue what a 'pound' is. You know what they call it instead?"

"What do they call it? A Royale with cheese?"

"Close. The 'Royal Cheese'."

* * *

The rogue plane made its way above the cargo plane, positioning itself a few feet in front, while keeping a high altitude above it. The rogue plane, now in its prime position, began to deploy its own cargo.

The side door to the plane opened, with 3 men climbing out, jumping out to a freefall. Wearing specially-designed wingsuits, the 3 skydivers made their way to the plane, with the intention of stealing its cargo for themselves.

* * *

The first pilot, finding amusement in his colleague's humorous story, laughed upon hearing the Parisian name for a hamburger.

"'The Royal Cheese', huh? What do they call the Nasty Sauce?" The first pilot asked.

"Nasty Sauce's just the Nasty Sauce, but they call it _le_ Nasty Sauce." The other pilot replied.

The first pilot laughed yet again at his colleague's stories.

" _Le_ Nasty Sauce. Big difference. What do they call a Good Burger?" The first pilot asked.

"I don't know, I didn't go to Good Burger." The other pilot replied.

* * *

The skydiving raiders made their way to the top of the plane, preparing to make their way down to the cargo hold. Using carefully-designed suction gloves and boots, the thieves climbed down to the cargo doors, preparing to open them and steal the cargo within.

* * *

"So, where's this thing going, anyway?" The first pilot asked.

"It's getting sent to a guy named Buckley Lloyd. Some richie rich guy." The other pilot replied.

"Buckley Lloyd? The stock broker with the charity? What the hell does he want with this thing?"

"I asked that when I was told who we were sending this to. Take a guess what they told me."

After giving an annoyed sigh, the two pilots spoke the answer to the question, both knowing a familiar answer all too well.

"'You're on a need-to-know basis, and you don't need to know'." They both said.

* * *

After careful work with a miniaturized arc welder, one of the airborne thieves carefully hacked into the controls for the cargo hold, beginning to open the door. Upon opening the door, the 3 thieves made their way inside the plane, preparing to take the cargo within.

* * *

"Man, don't you wish we were in the Middle East, fighting Afghanis like the good old days?" The first pilot asked.

"You call getting shot at 'good old days'?" The other pilot asked.

"Well, not really the shooting part, but I mean just doing _something_ other than just sitting in a damn plane listening to each other's bullshit stories."

"Well, careful what you wish for, pal, you never know what might happen."

* * *

And how right the pilot was, as the aerial thieves began to move the cargo out of the plane. As the 3 pushed the heavy cargo towards the open bay door, one of the thieves attached a parachute onto the crate, allowing the cargo to safely descend to the ground without harming the contents inside.

As the crate began its freefall to the ground, its parachute deployed, slowing its descent towards the ground. The 3 raiders, their mission accomplished, began to make their way off the plane. One raider, hacking back into the plane's control, closed the door behind the group, leaving no evidence of their quick and swift thievery.

The thieves' plane, making its way back down, caught up with the group to proceed to the next part of their plan. The 3 raiders, still in freefall, guided the crate towards their next destination, planning to meet with the plane.

Several feet below, resting on the ground, a freight truck carrying a flatbed trailer awaited the stolen cargo to arrive. Several feet above, the 3 raiders, making their aim carefully, positioned the crate to land softly onto the flatbed, with the parachute descending its fall.

With their mark set, the 3 raiders set their own parachutes off, giving them a safe landing to the ground. Upon reaching the ground, the group quickly disposed of their parachutes, with 2 climbing back aboard the plane and one driving the truck to a secret destination.

After the group had accomplished their mission, the plane began to make its way back to its place of origin, with the truck carrying the stolen cargo not far behind.

* * *

In the skies, the two pilots continued to have no idea about the missing cargo, continuing to carry on with their inane stories about their mediocre lives.

"So did you catch the new issue of _Danny Phantom_?" The first pilot asked.

"I don't read comic books. They always have such ludicrous plots." The other pilot said.

* * *

Miles away from the oblivious pilots, in an undisclosed location within the southern Californian city of Ocean Shores, the truck arrived at its destination: an abandoned warehouse in the heart of the old industrial city.

The remaining skydiving thieves and the pilot of their plane, who had all been awaiting patiently for the truck to arrive, quickly got to work unloading the crate from the truck, all of them more than eager to see the contents.

The 4 thieves opened the crate, all looking upon the contents inside. Although all the thieves wore heavy, high-tech masks to conceal their faces, anyone could easily tell that the group was smiling widely under their masks, more than satisfied with their mission gone well.

"Boys, we've all just become millionaires." The leader said.


	2. Chapter 1: The Good Old Days

**CHAPTER 1: THE GOOD OLD DAYS**

Welcome to Ocean Shores.

Here, you'll find a lot of fun just waiting to be had. The days are always hot and sunny, the beaches hold some of the best surfing waves you'll ever ride, the sand is as soft as the bed in your own home, and, as well as holding some of the best and most fun skate parks; holds the world-famous Ocean Shores Boardwalk, hosting some of the best rides you'll ever find in all of southern California.

With all the great things that the city has in store, the city has become California's best kept secret. However, like most secrets, word got out. For several long years, Ocean Shores has become one of the best vacation spots in the country. The city became a paradise for travelling surfers, professional skaters, spring breakers, and anyone looking for a good summer vacation. Every summer, the small city found itself packed with tourists every year, hordes of tourists both American and international seeking a nice place to kick their feet back and relax for a few weeks, or even months.

But that was then, this is now.

Since the advent smartphones and other various forms of electronic entertainment feeding the masses with their daily dosage of neural stimulation whenever they so demanded, activities like surfing, skating, and other extreme sports began to fall on a decline. As the peoples' minds and bodies grew weak and lethargic, interest in sports and outdoor activities began to slow to a grinding halt.

With this sudden backwards progression of humanity, the little city of Ocean Shores found itself as a victim of the migration of interest in the natural and stimulating activities that the planet had to offer. As tourism in Ocean Shores began to shrink and shrink each year, as did the town's economy. Many famous establishments and cult classic spots of the citizens of Ocean Shores began to close down, with their owners moving away in search for greener pastures.

Now, where the town was one of the most famous vacation spots in the world, it now only rots away in the corner of southern California, a shadow of its former self. The people of the city all share a sense of nostalgia for the days when the city was loud and alive, wishing for the days when people would all come together as one race, all coming together for one and simple purpose: to have fun together.

One such person is a young woman named Regina 'Reggie' Rocket. As the alarm to her clock sounded its blaring, shrill beep, Reggie found herself snapped out a pleasant dream, one where she was surfing the waves of the ocean, as she did so long ago when she was young. With the thoughts of the salty water of the ocean fading from her mind, Reggie began to get up out of bed, preparing to head to her job as required of her by society.

Getting out of bed, Reggie began to move through her morning rituals of work preparation; bathing herself, brushing her teeth, applying hygiene products, and getting dressed. Reggie was never one to care too much about her hair like other women, so a simple quick brush did the job just fine.

Heading outside and locking the door to her humble apartment behind her, Reggie stepped inside her small, rugged car. It was a simple used car, produced sometime in the late 1990s, but it got the job done. Upon starting the car, Reggie turned on the air conditioner and the CD player, finally ready to begin her drive to work.

As the car's power began to head its way to the CD player, the CD player began to play the inserted CD, Sublime's self-titled and final album, a favorite of Reggie's.

[Soundtrack Cue: Sublime - Garden Grove]

As the CD began to play over the car's radio, Reggie started to hum along to the music, finding both some enjoyment in the task of driving to work and getting the motivation to get started on her work. Pushing the pedal to the gas down gently, Reggie began her drive across Ocean Shores to work.

As she continued on her drive, Reggie looked onto the streets of Ocean Shores, continuing to feel a sense of nostalgia for the days when she was young. With the city's tourism taking a heavy beating, the city had become very empty, depressed, and deserted. No one walked the streets, save a few delinquents and drug dealers; no one spent time on the beach, save the occasional devoted surfer; and many of even the most popular stores and hangouts were empty, most being closed.

Saddened to see her home suffering the impact it had, Reggie sighed as she looked at her once-lively home now empty and lifeless. Thinking about the days when Ocean Shores was a lively and exciting town, Reggie recollected on her past adventures and experiences as a youth in the beautiful beach city.

As a child, she enjoyed all the leisure that the town had to offer; surfing, skating, and playing various extreme sports with her brother and friends, just like any kid could ever wish for in their simple years. However, now that she is grown, those glory days have long since passed, and now she has an adult life with a real job. It is a predicament that all adults must face as they enter their older years, and never is it easy to do.

It seems that children are all too eager to grow up, but, when that day finally comes, they all wish to be children again. It seems that no one is ever satisfied with their lives.

As a responsible adult, Reggie must find the strength to put aside her inner desire to live life freely as she did when she was young and contribute to society, in order to do her part to work for a better tomorrow. Her job is Ocean Shores Today, the most popular and only magazine remaining in business in Ocean Shores. Having been a passionate magazine creator as a youth, she got the job fairly easily and she intends to keep it, seeing as the job was low-maintenance and fairly hard to lose as well as being within her area of expertise.

After she arrived at her job at Ocean Shores Today, pulling her car into the parking lot of the building hosting the offices of the magazine, Reggie turned off her car, taking a moment to savor the last few moments of reminiscing on her younger days. Finally putting the thoughts aside and putting her mind on the work required of her this day, Reggie stepped out of her car and inside the building.

[Soundtrack Cue End]

Upon entering the offices of Ocean Shores Today, Reggie took notice that the workplace was, as usual, not busy. With not much work to be done and even less people to talk to, the workplace is a very boring and very dull place.

After pouring herself a cup of coffee, one of the few luxuries that the office can afford to provide, Reggie sat down at her desk, letting out a large sigh. While sitting down, Reggie found herself in a state of undecided emotion, trying to find decisiveness in the question of whether she should be bored or relaxed from the lack of work.

As the minor internal struggle continued in her head, along with the question of which of the few tasks she should get to first, Reggie's colleague Matt took notice of her arrival at work. Happy to see his workplace friend as always, Matt approached her to try to cheer her up out of her boredom.

"Anything newsworthy, Reggie-Girl?" Matt asked.

"In Ocean Shores? Nope. Maybe 14 years ago, when people actually did things." Reggie replied.

"Oh, my. Are we having another one of those 'good old days' moments?"

"With days this boring, everything else looks like a good day. Tell me again why I stayed here when most people I knew moved?"

"Because you got this job easily due to your hard work as a magazine writer as a kid, because you literally get paid to do nothing, and because I'd have no one else to talk to."

"Yeah, but I still wish I could visit somewhere more cool. I hear Hillwood has some masked crimefighters, like something out of a comic book. I'd give my right leg to have something half as cool as that happen around here."

"That would also mean we would get homicidal maniacs running around here, too. We wouldn't want that, now, would we?"

"No, I know. I just miss the days when I was a kid. Skating, surfing, snowboarding, hanging out with my friends and family, and meeting new people. Nobody comes to Ocean Shores anymore, not even the Shoobies."

"'Shoobies'? What's a Shoobie?"

"Oh, it's what me and my friends called tourists. We called them that because they wear their shoes on the beach."

"You don't wear your shoes on the beach?"

"No way, you go barefoot. You've seriously never done that?"

"I don't go to the beach often. I can't swim, much less surf or any of that other stuff you do. Much too dangerous, anyway."

" _Used_ to do. I don't anymore."

"Why not? With an uneventful job like this, I'm sure that you'd have plenty of time for things like that."

As the two friends continued their pleasant conversation, a new person walked in the door, a rare occurrence for the offices to see. With the stranger walking into the building, Reggie and Matt immediately took notice of the new individual walking in, especially since the stranger acted as if he owned the building.

"Hello, young men and women, hope I'm not interrupting anything." The stranger said.

"Uh, sorry, who are you?" Reggie asked.

"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Alex Gravity."

" _The_ Alex Gravity? The millionaire? The owner of Zero Gravity Zone?" Matt asked.

"The one and only, not to be too boastful about it."

"Well, what brings you to us?" Reggie asked.

Adding to the list of people baffled at the appearance of the millionaire owner of the chain of skating parks across the country, the newspaper editor walked in, just as confused as Matt and Reggie at the unexpected guest.

"Yes, please tell. It isn't too normal an occurrence for a wealthy man to visit a magazine publisher." The editor said.

"You must be the manager, just who I wanted to see." Alex said.

"That would be _newspaper editor_ , to be more accurate. Now, I assure you, we've put no libelous words about you nor your company in our magazine, I see no need for this visit-"

"Mr. Editor, it has come to my awareness that your magazine has been having problems staying in business due to low sales."

"Mr. Gravity, if you've come here to start some kind of trouble-"

Before the editor could finish his sentence, Alex pulled out his checkbook, wrote a check containing a very large sum of money, and handed it to the editor. Upon seeing the amount of zeroes written on the check, the editor found himself at a complete loss for words.

"That's not at all why I'm here. I'm here to buy this fine establishment." Alex replied.

Still unable to form a complete sentence, the editor continued to stammer over his own words, trying to question the buyer's motives.

"W-Well, why the sudden urge to buy... sir?" The editor asked.

"Well, I just love your magazine so much that I wanted to make sure it stays in business. They sell so well at Zero Gravity Zone. Plus, I love those little comic strips you add at the end. I trust there's no problem with that?" Alex asked.

"N-No, sir, of course not, sir. Well, what can we do for you, Mr. Gravity?"

Upon being called 'Mr. Gravity', Alex let out an amused laugh at the editor's formality.

"Please, call me Alex. All my friends call me Alex. However, would you mind giving these two young people the day off for me? They look like they could use a little 'outside' time." Alex asked.

"O-Of course, Mr. Gra- I mean, Alex. You two heard the man. Go ahead and take the day off." The editor said.

"Really? Thanks, Mr. Gravity!" Reggie said.

"Thank you, sir!" Matt said.

"No problem, you two kids have yourself some fun." Alex said.

With their work day taking an unprecedented end and having the rest of the long day to themselves, Reggie and Matt continued their conversation outside the building, ready to head to do many of the activities they never seemed to find the time for.

"So, you wanna go to Good Burger and get a burger and fries?" Matt asked.

"Maybe another time. I think I'll go see my dad at his restaurant and get a burger from him. I haven't seen him in a while." Reggie said.

"Of course, nothing like a little family time. So tell me, why did you stop doing all those crazy sports things?"

"It isn't as fun alone. My friends are up to other things now."

"What about your brother? Doesn't he do a lot of that stuff too?"

"Otto. And yeah, he still does. Unfortunately."

Not understanding Reggie's wording of her unexpected discontent in the sentence, Matt raised a curious eyebrow, wanting to know more to resolve his own curiousity.

"What do you mean, 'unfortunately'?" Matt asked.

"I mean that he doesn't bother showing up for family gatherings or even calling anymore. He always was caught up in sports more than anything else. He's probably caught up in it right now." Reggie replied.

* * *

[Soundtrack Cue - Suicidal Tendencies - Trip at the Brain]

A way across the city, in the now-closed and abandoned skate park known as Madtown, the aforementioned brash and overconfident skater Oswald 'Otto' Rocket stood atop the half-pipe, the old and battered pipe occupied only by Otto himself. Standing below on the ground, the amateur cameraman Maurice 'Twister' Rodriguez stood at readiness with his trusted VHS camcorder, recording his best friend as he prepared his skating tricks. Behind the two, sitting in a corner, a boombox playing Suicidal Tendencies' _How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today_ , starting at the first track.

"Twister, you ready for these awesome tricks?" Otto asked.

"Ready when you are, Ottoman! Let it rip!" Twister replied.

Releasing his board from its tail stall, Otto skated down the ramp and began to perform his various and well-trained skating tricks for Twister to record. With the two needing to make money to support their own daily lives, they decided to take their talents to the half-pipe in hopes of creating videos that will garner a large enough audience.

Otto started with a kickflip, spinning a good 360°, switching to his backside upon landing back on the half-pipe. Reaching the other side, Otto performed a method, nearly outstretching his back to grab his board.

Next, upon landing back on the ground, he decided to be more showy than usual by doing a handstand, holding himself in the air for a good 5 seconds. Finally, Otto finished off his show by doing an ollie impossible, spinning 540°, and riding safely to the bottom of the half-pipe and finishing his performance.

[Soundtrack Cue End]

"Sick tricks, bro! This is definitely gonna be get 2 million views on NewTube!" Twister said.

"Only the best tricks from the best skater in existence, yours truly." Otto replied.

The two best friends shared their special handshake, tapping their fingers on each other's palms while saying; 'woogity woogity woogity woogity!' as they did so.

After a moment of cheering over getting the footage for their next internet video, the two sat down on the half-pipe, relaxing on their hard work. While sitting down and resting from their hours of filming, the two looked at the empty Madtown, sharing an almost-awkward silence. While Otto's mind was only on the ride, Twister began to think over the days when Madtown knew much better days.

"Is it just me, or is Madtown, like, extra empty today?" Twister asked.

"It's just you, Twist. Conroy closed down Madtown years ago after Zero Gravity Zone stole all the good skaters away and the rest of the Shoobies all stopped coming to vacay in Ocean Shores, hence why we gotta crawl through the fence to get in." Otto replied.

"I know, but... It's like there's even less than no people here. Like it's... not that much fun to be here without everyone else here."

"That just means more skating for us, not to mention we don't gotta pay admission to Madtown anymore."

"Yeah, I know, but still, dude."

The two shared another moment of silence, spending it thinking over Twister's words. While Otto began to see Twister's point about Madtown's closure and the decline of skaters in Ocean Shores, he still held onto his feelings that they were better off without them taking up space.

"Hey, Otto. You ever miss the old days when Ocean Shores was full of people?" Twister asked.

"Full of Shoobies, you mean?" Otto replied.

"Well, yeah, I guess so."

"Man, the only good Shoobie is an absent Shoobie. They always suck the fun out of everything. Long lines at the boardwalk, stealing all the waves, making the grub stations extra busy; I'm glad we got it all to ourselves. If only I could enjoy this when I was a kid."

Feeling disappointment in his best friend's lack of perception of the point that he was trying to make, Twister shook his head and sighed at Otto's absent-mindedness.

"I don't know, man, it's still pretty boring. We had some good times, back when it was all of us together. You, me, Reg, and Squid; all of us like a team and stuff." Twister said.

Otto, finally beginning to see his best friend's point, thought carefully on his words, beginning to wish for the days when the group of four were inseparable as they were skilled in extreme sports. Putting his mind on the money yet again, Otto dismissed the thoughts just as quickly as they came to him.

"Hey, Twist, speaking of Squid, we'd better get this footage to him so he can get it uploaded and we make some ad rev. I got bills to pay." Otto said.

"Uh, don't you mean 'we' have bills to pay? We live in the same place." Twister asked.

"Yeah, whatever, you know what I mean, dude. Come on, let's hit it!"

Turning the trip to Squid's store into a competition, a common trope of his, Otto skated off quickly on his board, leaving Twister far behind in the race.

"Hey! Slow down, Otto!" Twister shouted.

Quickly packing his camera away and retrieving his own skateboard, Twister began to skate as fast as he could to try to catch up to Otto and compensate for his unfair head-start. As Twister finally managed to catch up to Otto, the two began to start their race across Ocean Shores to Squid's electronic store a more fairer race.

[Soundtrack Cue: D.R.I. - Beneath the Wheel]

As the two skated to the strip mall, Otto and Twister raced each other across Ocean Shores in a friendly but vicious competition between two extremely experienced skaters. The two best friends skated down the empty streets of the city, no pedestrians to interrupt their race, passing each other up several times in a tight deadlock that seemed dead-even.

To catch up, Twister tried vaulting himself over trashcans and mailboxes, hoping to make a more linear path to the store. In the midst of his trials, however, he merely ended up tripping over a steel trash can, falling down and giving Otto a lead in the race. Not wanting to lose, Twister got up from the scattered garbage and pushed on to try to win the race.

Finally recovering from his minor setback, Twister skated back up and began to pass up Otto, taunting him with a middle finger as he took the lead in the race. The ever-egotistical Otto, not one to accept even a small loss, even from his best friend, pushed himself harder to win the race.

As the race continued on, the two found themselves approaching toward a hill. The hill was not a dangerous slope, but it was enough to make any drivers in the road cautious. Twister, playing things safely, grabbed his board tight, keeping his center of gravity low, and skated down it safely. Otto, seeing this as an easy shortcut, leaped the hill, gaining serious air and jumping over Twister entirely, gaining the lead once again.

With the competition coming to a hard tie yet again, the race between two grew more and more tense with each moment. Each one had their eyes set on the lead of the race, not permitting the other to take it from him. If there is one thing that the two truly have in common as best friends, it is that neither of them enjoy losing.

"Why don't you just give up already, Ottoman? I'm already beating you!" Twister shouted.

"Nobody beats Otto Rocket, especially not losers halfway behind me, doofus!" Otto taunted.

Making a dirty move to get his way, Otto moved his board extremely close to Twister's board, making a collision between the two seem imminent. Fearing this possibility, Twister eased himself back, braking the back of his board to keep from Otto. Otto, his plan having worked, took the lead in the race once again, finally reaching the parking lot to the strip mall, and, putting his competition behind him, won the race.

[Soundtrack Cue End]

Proud in his own victory in the seemingly pedestrian race, Otto gave a shout of victory, much to Twister's dismay. He did not feel dismay because of the fact that he lost the race, but the fact that Otto took such a simple and unimportant victory too seriously, a particular trait of his.

"Whoo! I told you I'd beat you!" Otto shouted.

"Whatever, Otto. Can't we just hand Squid our footage?" Twister asked.

"Sure thing, Mr. Second Place."

Annoyed with his best friend's ever-present arrogance, Twister let out a sigh to vent his frustrations. Trying to put his mind on the task at hand, Otto and Twister entered the store, looking to meet with Squid.

The two walked into Sam's Electronics, a small business run by Sam 'Squid' Dullard himself. Inside, any and every form of electronic machinery can be found: computers, cameras, smartphones, game consoles, televisions, and much more than many could think to look for.

The owner himself, Sam Dullard, was never to be seen away from his store, treating it like his own flesh and blood. Always can you find him at the counter, always is he willing to help, and always will he know exactly what you need. Today is no exception, as Sam finished a transaction with a young customer buying a video game.

"Remember, if the game's not good, you can bring it back and I'll swap it for something else or give you your money back." Sam said.

"Thanks, Mr. Dullard! Your store is the best!" The child said.

After Sam helped the young customer and the child made his way out the door, proudly sporting his new video game, Otto and Twister began to approach him, Twister holding his camera in hand.

"Hey, guys, got the new footage?" Sam asked.

"You know it, Squid! All ready for the major view count!" Otto said.

"Got it here, Squid." Twister said.

Twister held up his video camera, with Sam taking the camera to retrieve the footage. Upon inspecting the archaic VHS camcorder, Sam always being one for the latest and best, visibly disapproved of Twister's choice of video equipment.

"I still can't believe you're still recording on this old VHS camera. Nobody's put anything out on VHS since 2006. Don't you want to upgrade to digital? I'll give you half price since you guys are my friends." Sam offered.

"No way! Me and this camera have been through way too much together. Besides, tape captures much better than digital for skating." Twister protested.

"It really doesn't, Twister. Not to mention your camera gets covered in duct tape residue because you keep taping it to your helmet. I just got some YoPros in last week, these babies stick right on your helmet and capture up to 4K resolu-"

"Squid! Are you gonna upload our video, or are you gonna sell us all your stuff?" Otto interrupted.

"Right. Let me set it up." Sam replied.

After Sam took the tape out of the camcorder, he painstakingly dug out a specialty converter made specifically for VHS, inserting the tape in the converter. After a few minutes of waiting that seemed to last hours, the converter finally finished its job, transferring the video on the tape to a digital file, allowing Sam to further his work on the video. After a few minutes of editing and a few minor adjustments to the video file itself, Sam finally uploading the new video to NewTube to Otto and Twister's channel, _Team Rocket Sports_.

"I used a new editing program that gives the footage less shakiness and sharpens it up from 480i to 720p. For this one, I used a Sugar Ray song for the soundtrack. Something a little lighter." Sam said.

In the corner of the store, listening in on the conversation, a less-than-friendly face decided to join in on the fun, with the intentions of ruining it for the others. This spoiler was known as Lars Rodriguez, Twister's older brother and most hated resident of Ocean Shores. Making his appearance obnoxiously well-known with a snarky laugh, Lars walked to the others and shared his unwanted opinion with the group.

"'Sugar Gay'?! You dweebs'll put anything on NewTube, won't you?!" Lars asked.

"Screw off, Lars. Don't you have anything better to do?" Otto said.

"Not really. I just stopped by to laugh my ass off at my loser brother and his dork friends. How many people watch your dumb little channel? 40? 50?"

"50,000? I had no idea _that_ many people watched us!" Twister said.

"No, 50 as in _just_ 50 dorks who watch you. And _that's_ pushing it."

"Like you know." Otto said.

"Oh, but I do know from your last lame video. Nobody cares about skating anymore. Why do you think all the Shoobies left this stupid town?"

"So you do watch our videos? Guess that makes you a dork by your own standards, huh?"

A few teenage customers listening in on the altercation found Otto's comeback amusing, all of them giving laughs at his witty remark. Lars, not one to take criticism so easily, turned toward the customers and grabbed them two of them by their shirt collars, giving physical threats to the two once-laughing customers .

"You two and your little butt buddies better watch your mouths or you'll be next after I whomp the Rocket Loser." Lars said.

Sam, ever intolerant of violence in his establishment, stepped in to break up the fight and defuse the situation.

"You lay a finger on anyone and I'll call the cops in here. This is my store, and I won't have any roughhousing in here. We're not kids anymore, and we're not afraid to turn you in." Sam said.

Not wanting to return to jail after a recent release, and growing annoyed with his numerous run-ins with the law enforcement of Ocean Shores, Lars angrily backed down, yielding to Sam's warning.

"Fine. Whatever. I got better stuff to do. Have fun sucking each other's cocks, you dorks." Lars said.

Giving his last vulgar remarks to the group, Lars angrily left the store, off in search of more delinquent activities to indulge in, hoping to avoid the law while doing so. Otto and Twister, more than impressed with Sam's handling of the situation, were more than happy to see him get rid of the obnoxious Lars.

"Good going, Squid. Never know you had it in you to stand up to Lars." Otto said.

"Thanks, Otto. Now, here's the completed video." Sam said.

With the video completed and uploaded to NewTube, Sam turned his computer monitor to Otto and Twister to show them their completed work. Pressing the play button, Sam began to start the newly-uploaded video in all its glory.

[Soundtrack Cue: Sugar Ray - Rhyme Stealer]

On the video, as the music began to pick up its tempo and beat, a flashy intro began to play on the screen, giving the video a more professional look. On the intro to the video, the title card read:

" _Team Rocket Presents..._

 _A Sam Dullard production..._

 _SHREDDIN' UP MADTOWN!_

 _Featuring..._

 _The world-famous OTTO ROCKET!_ "

As the intro ended, the full extent of the video began. The video, consisting of only a few minutes, showed Otto performing his previously recorded-tricks, performing rail grinds, kickstands, ollies, methods, slides, and other such moves; all synchronized to the nu-metal song matching the action.

With each new stunt being shown at a different location within Madtown, each change was made with flashy, MTV-esque transitions that one would swear came from some obscure rock band from the late 90s or maybe the early 2000s.

Although many today would not be heavily impressed with the techniques chosen for this particular video, Otto and Twister found themselves caught up in the video, loving each and every second of their completed work ready to be viewed by all to see.

[Soundtrack Cue End]

When the song ended, the main content of the video ended with it. With the main feature complete, the video went to black and showed the credits, comprising only of the names of Otto Rocket as the star, Twister Rodriguez as the Director of Cinematography, and Sam Dullard as both the editor and producer.

"Now _that's_ what I call a video!" Otto said.

"Nice work, Squid!" Twister said.

"Thanks, guys. Happy to help my friends." Sam said.

"Hey, Sam. Can I ask you something serious?"

"You? Being serious? This is new."

"Well, I was asking Otto earlier, but doesn't Ocean Shores seem kinda boring when nobody's here?"

Not wanting to revisit what he perceived as a moronic topic, Otto groaned in annoyance at Twister bringing up the topic yet again.

"Not this question again." Otto said.

"Well, I get that feeling sometimes, too. A lot of people come in here and my business is pretty good, but it's pretty empty at the beach. I miss when things were lively around here." Sam said.

"But the Shoobies! Don't you remember how big a pain they were?"

"Yeah, I do, but everything seemed better that way. Maybe I just miss being a kid. I spend so much time here, I barely have time for sports anymore. Oh, that reminds me, I won't be able to play hockey with you guys on Tuesday."

"Why not?" Twister asked.

"Soldiers of Fortune 9: Special Edition gets released then for GameStation, NextBox, and the Pretendo Switchblade, and we're gonna be packed with kids and all sorts of people."

"'Packed with kids'? There are barely any kids in all of Ocean Shores anymore! Can't you get Eddie to cover?" Otto asked.

"I can't be covered, I'm the manager. Besides, I had to fire Eddie because he still wears that mask and cape, calling himself 'Prince of the Netherworld' in front of the customers."

"He _still_ wears that thing?! Does it even fit him anymore?"

"No. Especially not since he gained weight. Imagine a beluga whale trying on 'Small and Petite' clothes."

Upon involuntarily producing the mental image that Sam had created, Otto gagged at the disgusting thought, trying not to vomit.

"Dude, _do not_ put that image in my head about Eddie." Otto said.

"Well, I won't have to when you can see it for yourself on Tuesday. He still comes here for all his games." Sam said.

"That's because you're the only electronics store in Ocean Shores."

"Yeah, but still. Everybody comes to me because they'd rather play video games than go outside on the beach. The few skaters left all go to Zero Gravity Zone. I guess that goes back to what you were saying earlier, Twister."

"Yeah. Nobody going outside anymore. It really sucks." Twister said.

"Well, going inside does have its benefits." Otto said.

"Like what?"

"Like something you and I do nearly every night."

"Oh, yeah."

"What? What are you guys talking about? ...Are you guys..." Sam asked.

"Are we what?" Twister asked.

Not wanting to say the specific words to the question he was trying to ask, Sam gave a suggestive motion to an action very... personal for two people to share alone.

After a minute of pondering, trying to decipher Sam's overly subtle suggestion, the Otto and Twister's pondering were immediately followed by a disgusted realization, causing them to both groan and gag at Sam's question.

"Hell, no, dude! Do we seriously look gay to you?!" Otto said.

"Well, I never see either of you with a girl so I just assumed... Well, you know, there's nothing wrong with it. I don't care if you guys are-" Sam began to say.

"Squid! Me and Twist are _not_ gay! I swear! Besides, me and Clio are together, kind of."

"Really? I didn't know that."

"Yeah, it's sort of a 'friends with benefits' situation, I guess."

"Huh. Okay. Well, anyways, what _do_ you do every night?"

"We smoke a bowl after skating or surfing."

"Smoke a bowl of what?"

"Of weed, Squid. You never smoked pot before?"

"No, I haven't."

"You wanna change that tonight?"

"I don't know, man. Should we invite The Squid? He doesn't seem like the guy who'd do it." Twister said.

Taking Twister's question as a challenge of will, Sam began to take the conversation and offer much more seriously, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

"What time?" Sam asked.

"How about 11:00 PM, our place?" Otto said.

Thinking carefully on Otto and Twister's offer to consume cannabis alongside the two, Sam contemplated on how he would make it work with his business life. After planning his work days carefully in his head, Sam replied with a simple nod.

"Okay, I'll see you then." Sam said.

"Cool. We'll bring some FunYums. See you there." Otto said.

The three friends shared their special handshake, followed by the traditional 'woogity woogity woogity!' With their smoke session planned for the night, Otto and Twister left the store to head back home, having nothing better to do.

"Hey, Ottoman, I'm hungry. You wanna get a burger?" Twister asked.

"Sure, how about Good Burger?" Otto asked.

"But... Don't you wanna go to the Shore Shack?"

"The Shore Shack?! No way! My dad owns the place, need I remind you?"

"Yeah, I thought you might like to see him now and then, along with Reggie, Tito, Noelani-"

"I said no! I don't want anything to do with them! They all just try to hold me back and make me do shit I don't wanna do!"

Feeling far too agitated from the mention of his father, Otto snapped hard at Twister, causing his friend to show concern for his unexpected reaction. Upon realizing his mistake, Otto gave a sigh and tried his best to apologize to his friend.

"Sorry, Twist. I didn't mean to go schizo on you. I just don't wanna see my dad." Otto said.

"But he's your dad! He's, like, your family, dude!" Twister said.

"Lars is your brother, you wanna go see him?"

"Lars is a just big asshole. Your dad's a cool guy."

"He grounded me constantly for just trying to have a little fun. You call that cool?"

"I think he was just doing his best to raise you, man. That's what dads do. Besides, you're an adult now, it's not like he can ground you anymore."

"After he married Noelani, he paid almost no attention to me or Reggie, instead focusing too much on his ' _sweet beautiful Noelani_ ', and never spending some time on the waves with us. It's like he just completely ditched us for that bitch." Otto said.

Not having any immediate advice to give to his friend to help him in his situation, Twister didn't say anything.

"Hey, forget about all that. Let's go get some burgers." Otto said.

"Okay, man, last one there buys." Twister replied.

"You're on!"

With Twister's challenge gladly accepted, the two best friends raced each other to the Good Burger, making another competition of the ride and putting their concerns and troubles aside for the moment.


	3. Chapter 2: Business is Booming

**CHAPTER 2: BUSINESS IS BOOMING**

In the nearly-abandoned town of Ocean Shores, with the lack of tourism supporting the local economy, many businesses, from hit hangouts to hidden gems, hade found themselves forced to close down in search for profits elsewhere. With only big-name franchises remaining in the city, many mom-and-pop stores have become nearly a thing of the past.

Sitting on the corner of the Ocean Shores Boardwalk, however, one sliver of small, family-owned business remained. That one business is the one and only Shore Shack, a hamburger stand known for its delicious sandwiches that no other burger joint could measure up to, making them a staple in the city's culture and still staying as strong as it can be in these harsh economic times. After all, I did say 'nearly' a thing of the past, didn't I?

Manning the counter as they have done for over 20 long years, Ray Rocket and his lifelong best friend Tito Makani continued worked at the counter, tending to the customers. Only two customers were present at this particular moment, despite the time being in the average lunch hour for most, but Ray and Tito wanted to provide the best possible experience for their two customers to sustain the Shore Shack.

"Excuse me, could I get some-" One customer began to say.

Before the customer could even finish his request, both Ray and Tito immediately rushed to the customer, offering numerous services for their patron.

"Oh, need some ketchup? I got some right here!" Ray said.

"Some salt and pepper? I can grind it fresh for you!" Tito said.

"A refill on your Yahoo Soda?"

"Need a better batch of fries?"

"A knife to split your burger?"

The customer, not expecting the two to be so quick and overcompensating with their service, found himself slightly overwhelmed by Ray and Tito's attempts to meet his request, despite the fact that he had never even said what he wanted.

"...Actually, uh, I'm out of napkins. Could I get a couple, please?" The customer asked.

Ray and Tito, not expecting the customer to want something so simple and minor, became slightly embarrassed at their overdone attempts for excellent service.

"Oh, right. Here you go, sir." Ray said.

Ray handed the customer a few napkins, handing them as delicately as possible, to which the customer skeptically and carefully took the napkins from Ray, gingerly placing them on his table.

"Uh... thanks." The customer said.

"And remember, anything else you need, just let us know!" Tito said.

"Yeah, I got it. I'm good for right now."

With the customer temporarily placated, Ray and Tito returned to the front, sighing in relief that the ordeal was over. Despite having only the two customers to serve, Ray and Tito found themselves exhausted at their desperate attempts to appease their only remaining customer base, wishing back for the days when the business was more financially stable.

"Man, don't you miss the days when we were packed with people, making big bucks and staying busy?" Ray asked.

"Yeah, brutha, things just ain't the same since people forgot about Ocean Shores." Tito said.

"I don't get it. We were _the_ spot to get a burger in Ocean Shores, now, a Good Burger pops up, and they steal all our customers. What do they have that we don't?"

"Speed? Cheaper prices? Name-brand recognition?"

"Yeah, yeah. I know. I just don't know how we're supposed to compete with that."

"Ancient Hawaiian saying: Those who constantly seek for the bigger waves may never know content with the waves they are given."

"Uh... What?"

Before Ray could spend any more time trying to decipher Tito's riddle or look back on the better days of his life in a haze of nostalgia, a much-welcome face came to the counter to greet the two. Reggie Rocket walked to the counter, greeting her father and metaphorical uncle with a happy smile.

"Hey, Dad. Hey, Tito." Reggie said.

Ray and Tito, more than happy to see Reggie after a long time of work separating the two, returned Reggie's smile with two grand smiles of their own. Ray, more than happy to see his daughter again, rushed up to give her a hug, which Reggie gladly returned.

"Hey, Rocket Girl! Haven't seen you around here in a while!" Ray said.

"Hey, there, little cuz. It _has_ been quite a while. Been too busy to visit?" Tito asked.

"Sorry. I've been busy at the 'zine. I got the rest of the day off for today. Thought I'd spend some of my day off with you guys." Reggie said.

"Well, how about you enjoy the start of your day off with something to eat?" Ray asked.

"How about a Big Kahuna Burger?"

"Fine choice, Rocket Girl. Tito?"

"Say no more, cuz. Got one cooking right now!" Tito said.

"So, how goes things at the 'zine?" Ray asked.

"Not too good, but not too bad either." Reggie said.

"How so?"

Reggie pulled up a chair on a table, taking a seat to relax herself as she awaited her lunch. Ray, wanting to converse with his daughter further, pulled up a chair and sat down across from her.

"Nothing's happening in this whole town. The population of Ocean Shores is the lowest in its whole history, and no people means no stories. It's like a ghost town around here." Reggie said.

"Well, you're not wrong there. Good Burger stole most of what's left of my business. I have a few loyal customers, but not many tippers. At least retirement's around the corner for me and Noelani." Ray said.

"I guess that's a good thing. Hey, how are you and Noelani doing?"

"Pretty good. We miss you, but we're still happy together, and we're especially happy you're making it on your own now."

"I don't suppose Otto comes to visit?"

Not too pleased to hear a sore subject matter brought up in what was beginning to be a pleasant conversation, Ray let out a heavy sigh to relieve himself of as much stress as possible to answer her question.

"No. I haven't seen Otto since he and Twister left to do their Team Rocket internet thing." Ray said.

"Don't you miss him?" Reggie asked.

Not knowing the way to give the most truthful answer without sounding insensitive, Ray didn't answer immediately, thinking over his reply carefully. Misinterpreting his slow reply as an answer of 'no', Reggie gave a shocked response to Ray's actions.

"You really don't miss your own son?!" Reggie asked.

"I _do_ miss him, Reggie, but... he was always so difficult." Ray replied.

"You did your best, Dad. Some of Otto's issues are on him."

"Don't say that, Rocket Girl. I still have a share of blame for some of the static between us. He felt like I never cared about him or you as much as Noelani. All I wanted was to make Noelani feel welcome in the family and for you two to accept her, but Otto just wasn't so quick to welcome her as you were. It was hard enough raising him, but the wedding seemed to make things worse on him. I think he hates me for it."

"You shouldn't feel guilty about that, Dad. You were just trying to be happy, Otto was being a stubborn jerk like he always is. If he doesn't want in on this family, he doesn't know what he's missing out on."

After lowering his head in sadness, Ray let out another stress-relieving sigh, hoping to find the strength to continue on the uncomfortable conversation.

"I still wish things would be back to the way they were. Maybe he wouldn't throw away his life like he does." Ray said.

Before the conversation could continue any further, the dialogue came to a small pause, as Tito stepped in to serve Reggie her hamburger and french fries.

"Burger's up! Need any salt for the fries?" Tito asked.

"No, Tito, thanks." Reggie said.

"Okay. You just let me know if you need anything, little cuz. Hey, Ray, could you give me a quick hand in the back?"

"Sure, Tito, be right there. Be right back, Reg." Ray said.

Putting his talk with his daughter on hold, Ray put the chair back in its place, moving to the back of the restaurant to help Tito with his unspecified problem.

"Okay, Tito. What's wrong?" Ray asked.

"You tell me, cuz." Tito replied.

"What?"

"You were one step away from having an episode in front of the little cuz out there."

"No, I wasn't."

"Ancient Hawaiian saying; 'The coconut with the strongest-looking shell is truly the weakest.'"

"...I don't get it."

Tito, needing to find a way to convey his message in a way that his friend would understand, let out a sigh, thinking over a way to rephrase his words.

"Cuz, you still beat yourself up for Otto not being as successful as Reggie." Tito said.

"No, I don't. I just-" Ray began to say.

"You just think that if you had tried a little harder to help Otto accept Noelani, he wouldn't have run off, right?"

Ray acted very hesitantly to answer his friend's question, not prepared to let out the words needed to answer, and then decided to nod to convey his feelings.

"I always was kind of hard on Otto, but I was just trying to help him learn responsibility. Noelani tried to help me in some areas, but I just was never too good at this parenting stuff." Ray said.

"Hey, you just tried your best. We all do. Besides, Otto's a real wild child. Maybe he just needs a little time on his own right now." Tito said.

"...Yeah, I guess you're right."

After a moment of silence, thinking over the situation with Otto and their broken father-son relationship, Ray got an idea to fix his problems.

"Hey, maybe he _does_ need a little time with all of us. Reggie's off today from work, right?" Ray asked.

"Yeah, what are you thinking, cuz?" Tito asked.

"How about we invite Otto and Reggie over for dinner just as a way to get everyone back together?"

"I don't know, it might be better if we try to give them time-"

"You get to cook some Hotdurgers."

More than happy to hear the good news that he would prepare his favorite dish for the entire family, Tito stopped in his tracks, his position on the matter turning around entirely.

"You know what? Maybe a little family togetherness _is_ what the little cuzes need. You get the grilling supplies, I'll get the food!" Tito shouted.

"Sounds good. I'll invite Reggie, you invite Otto." Ray said.

"Okay, I'll go get him now."

* * *

Across the town, laying in a nearly empty suburb, there rested one single house holding the two stoner extreme sports enthusiasts, Otto and Twister. Having almost no money and having only extreme sports and marijuana usage as their only interests, their house is a complete nightmare to any civilized person.

Moldy food containers littered the floor, collecting bugs and other house pests; uncleaned laundry rested on the floor and furniture, all still covered with sweat and urine; tissues hard and crusty from dried semen filled the one trash bin that existed within the house, with many of the tissues being re-used to save money; and other unspeakable horrors of neglectful housekeeping. The toilet, suffering the worst of it all, was coated in several layers of crusted fecal matter and urine stains, a ring rested in the bowl that was as bright pink as bubble gum, and the toilet itself emitted an unholy smell rivaling the Bog of Eternal Stench.

Within the poorly-maintained house, the two skaters sat around, waiting for their latest video on NewTube to go popular, generating enough advertisement revenue to make their big break as a sports team. Otto laid on the couch, staring at the ceiling, while Twister sat at the computer, his eyes glued to the LCD screen and carefully watching the view count.

"Twist, any more hits on NewTube yet?" Otto asked.

"Yeah, dude, we got 500 more views this past minute!" Twister said.

"Besides the ones we got from you hitting the 'refresh' button?"

"Oh... in that case, no."

Annoyed with their latest video receiving no attention and, in turn, Otto's talents not being recognized, Otto let out a loud, annoyed groan, jumping off of the couch.

"What are we doing wrong?! Skating fans would eat this stuff up!" Otto asked.

"Maybe nobody really likes to watch skating anymore, Otto. All I see on NewTube now is stuff like gameplays and cartoons. Not good cartoons where those crazy animals beat each other up, like, those ones where all those losers whine about their crappy lives." Twister said.

"C'mon, Twister, no one in their right mind would want to watch that crap. Maybe we take Sam's advice and go digital."

"No way! I'm not getting rid of my VHS camcorder! That camera's way too important to me!"

"You don't have to get rid of it, dude, you just have to film with something else. It's just so we can get a little more money."

"I don't want to, dude, I-"

Before the two friends could finish their conversation, a knock on the door was heard, causing the two to put their attention to it.

"I'll get it." Twister said.

Opening the front door to their humble abode, Twister revealed the unexpected guest to be Clio, Twister's cousin and Otto's current girlfriend out of a revolving list of significant others.

"Hey, cuz." Clio said.

"Hey, Clio! Come to celebrate our new video?" Twister asked.

"Not really. I came for Otto. Hey, Otto."

Otto, happy to see his significant other again, gave Clio a hug and kiss, ones much more personal than many would dare to give in public.

"Hey, baby. Daddy missed you." Otto said.

"Does daddy want a little sugar?" Clio asked.

Clio and Otto began to kiss passionately, making heavy usages of their tongues, all in front of Twister for him to see, much to his disgust. Not wanting to see the interpersonal relationships of his cousin, Twister averted his eyes and gave a disgusted groan.

"Otto! Cilo! Are you trying to make me puke?" Twister asked.

"What's the matter, you going homo?" Otto asked.

"No, man, I just don't want to see you do that to my cousin. That's disgusting."

"Coming from the boy who lives in a pile of his own dirty underwear and cumrags." Clio quipped.

"Whatever. Will you two get a room?"

Otto looked to Clio, contemplating on where to continue their actions, thinking of somewhere that Twister would not disturb them.

"You wanna continue this in the pool?" Otto asked.

"Sure. Bring a joint, will you?" Clio replied.

"Got you covered."

Reaching into a cigarette box laying on the desk, Otto took out a joint, bringing it with him. Twister, not wanting Otto to waste their marijuana, immediately protested his decision.

"Hey, wait! That's for you, me, and Squid to smoke later! What happened to 'bros before hos'? Twister asked.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't just call me a ho, baby cousin." Clio said back.

"'Baby cousin'? We're like, the same age!"

As Otto and Clio went outside to the pool, Twister's protests about the marijuana went unnoticed and ignored, leaving him alone in the computer room again. After letting out a frustrated groan, Twister went back to the computer, continuing to hit the 'refresh' button repetitively, hoping in vain to increase the attention of their latest video.

* * *

[Soundtrack Cue: Slightly Stoopid - This Joint]

In the backyard of Otto and Twister's house, laying in a bathtub barely big enough to fit two small children, Otto and Clio shared the joint together, both of them getting intoxicated. Sitting next to the pool, Otto's trusty boom box was playing a fitting song to their session, Slightly Stoopid's _This Joint_ , track 8 from _Closer to the Sun_.

Continuing their passion in the tiny pool, basking in each other's company and in the hot Californian sun, the two continued to kiss each other with the radio still playing. Taking more and more puffs away at the joint, Otto and Clio both continued their high from smoking their homemade marijuana cigarette.

Even though the two were nearly without any thoughts, focusing only on relaxing in the moment, Clio's visit was not simply for physical pleasures. This time, she felt it was time to have a discussion with Otto, one concerning the future of their relationship.

"Hey, Otto. You ever get tired of skating for NewTube? Don't you want to do something else with your life?" Clio asked.

"What for? I got everything I want and need right here. And I got what I _currently_ want and need right on me, literally." Otto replied.

Clio giggled at Otto's flirtatious joke, but it was not enough to sway her from the topic of the conversation.

"I'm serious, Otto. Your house is always a huge wreck, you barely have any money, and you do less than everyone else on the planet. Don't you wanna do something more with your life?" Clio asked.

"Like what?" Otto asked.

"I don't know, a lawyer... a doctor..."

"You gotta go to school for that stuff. 'Otto Rocket' and 'School' don't go in the same sentence together. Besides, why would I go to school to be a doctor when I can give you as many check-ups as you want already?"

Barely able to hold on to her train of thought with the devil's leaf pulling the strings of her consciousness and concentration, Clio found herself only able to laugh at Otto's flirtatious joke.

"You're high." Clio said.

"So are you." Otto said.

"Your eyes are so red right now."

"Your eyes are redder than mine."

"How do you know? You can't see your own eyes."

"I can do this and see them."

Otto went cross-eyed, attempting to look at his own eyeballs. After a few seconds of struggling, Otto found himself unable to do the impossible task that he set himself up for. Clio, finding his attempts at trying to impress her hilarious, laughed extremely hard, with Otto laughed with her.

Unbeknownst to the two intoxicated lovers, another figure began approaching them from behind, looking in disappointment at the antics of the two young adults. Had the two their full sensory capabilities, they would have noticed the figure standing right behind them, but took no notice to him.

"Having fun, little cuzes?" Tito asked.

[Soundtrack Cue End]

Startled at the appearance of the portly Hawaiian man standing behind them, Otto and Clio gave out frightened gasps, with Otto dropping the joint in the pool. Trying his best to focus through his high and establish his communication skills once again, Otto put most of his concentration trying to talk to Tito.

"Uh, hey, Tito. What, uh... What are you doing in my backyard?" Otto asked.

"Twister let me back here when I was looking for you." Tito replied.

"Okay, but, like, why are you at my house? I've never seen you come around here before."

"And for good reason. I've seen Hawaiian pigs more cleaner than you two, and not one of them ever left good food to lie around and rot on the floor."

"Yeah, uh, I was gonna clean it up, like, next... century?"

"Well, that's definitely the most honest thing you've ever said, little cuz. Anyway, I came to invite you to a cookout at Ray's house. I'm doing the cooking."

Not wanting to hear about his father once again in the same day, Otto let out an annoyed groan, his bloodshot eyes rolling back in his head.

"Tito, what makes you think I _wanna_ go back to see my dad? All he cares about is that bitch Noelani he picked up in Hawaii 14 years ago. He doesn't care about me." Otto said.

"Now, don't be talking that way about my cuz, cuz. You're dad's putting together this cookout to show you that he still cares about you. He just wants to catch up a little. You wanna come? You'll get free food." Tito replied.

Thinking over Tito's offer through his drug-filled haze, Otto contemplated Tito's offer carefully. While the last thing he wanted to do was encounter his father and re-hash numerous bad years of conflict between the two, the promise of free food was a practical guarantee of an answer of 'yes'. A stoner will never decline free food, but a high always comes first.

"I don't know, Tito. Me, Twist, Squid, and Clio were gonna pay Mary Jane a visit tonight." Otto said.

"Is that so? It looks more like Mary Jane had plans for an afternoon swim." Tito said.

Tito pointed out the joint floating in the pool, with Otto quickly realizing his mistake. Otto quickly rushed to save the joint to usable standards, but the paper was far too wet, crumbling in Otto's hands and falling apart. Having foolishly destroyed the last of his marijuana, Otto groaned in frustration at his own stupidity.

"Damn it, Twister's gonna kill me. That was our last joint." Otto said.

"Maybe not, little cuz. Ancient Hawaiian saying; 'always come prepared'." Tito said.

Tito pulled a plastic bag out of his shirt pocket, holding several marijuana buds within. Otto, not expecting his lifelong friend to carry hemp on his persons all the time he had known him, laughed after giving a look of surprise.

"Tito, since when did you start burning indo?" Otto asked.

"Since way, way, before you came around, little cuz. Ray had a few puffs with me too." Tito replied.

Upon hearing the news of his father formerly being a toker, Otto laughed even harder, more interested in the stories.

"You and Raymundo on reefer?! No way! I gotta hear more." Otto said.

"Is that a yes I hear? You may wanna make sure this time, I'm making Hotdurgers." Tito asked.

Otto contemplated again on Tito's offer, not still quite sure on accepting. After a moment to think over the benefits, the promises of free food and marijuana, Otto finally accepted the offer.

"Okay, sure. I'll go, but only because you bailed me out." Otto said.

"Don't thank me yet, little cuz. You gotta promise me that you'll try your best to make things good with your family. Your dad went through a lot of trouble to set this up." Tito said.

"Best behavior. No problem."

"And, most importantly, you gotta let me smoke with you when you get back."

Otto gave a light chuckle at Tito's condition, more than happy to accept.

"Sure, Tito. It's your weed." Otto said.

"Not just any weed, this is Pineapple Express, fresh from Honolulu. This will get you higher than the highest volcanoes in all of Hawaii." Tito said.

"Alright, I'll look forward to it. For now, I'd better get ready for dinner."

Preparing himself for the dinner party, Otto attempted to get out of the pool, but stumbled and fell to the ground, still unable to fully coordinate his muscles properly. Tito, rushing to aid his metaphorical nephew, helped Otto off of the ground.

"Goddamn, I'm still high as shit." Otto mumbled.

"Sniff some black pepper and take a cold shower. You'll sober right up." Tito said.

"Thanks, Tito. Just... gotta... get... inside..."

* * *

Across the city, another individual began making plans of his own. That individual was Lars Rodriguez, seeking to find some fun for himself at the expense of others. Having his satisfaction taken from him after his attempts to stir trouble at Sam's Electronics, he needed to find a new outlet to release his sociopathic tendencies on others.

Looking for trouble with an observant eye, Lars entered Zero Gravity Zone, the outer heaven for many skaters. The mega-chain of skating parks has remained a popular enterprise to this day, known for its numerous themes extending from science fiction to fantasy to ancient times, its many appearances of professional extreme athletes, and much, much sought out sponorships.

Despite its glamour, the chain has its controversy. With every new appearance of a Zero Gravity Zone, its opening decimates the local skate parks of every town that it appears in, making small skating businesses in danger and giving Zero Gravity Zone a monopoly on the industry. With this, skaters are left with only two choices to pursue their passion: skate with them, or quit.

Stepping into the skate park, Lars took a long, good look at the inside, taking in all the sights of the park before planning to cause mayhem within. Starting his mayhem with something simple yet effective, Lars placed a cigarette in his mouth and lit it, taking in a deep inhale before walking in any further. A ZGZ employee, taking immediate notice of Lars' tobacco habit, approached him to inform him of his violation.

"Pardon me, sir, we don't allow smoking within Zero Gravity Zone. I'm afraid you'll have to go outside if you'd like to smoke." The employee said.

Lars flicked the cigarette towards the employee, causing the employee to try to knock the cigarette off of himself before he could get burned.

"You go outside, dickhead." Lars said.

Looking towards the first ramp within his sight, Lars began to walk towards the pit, aiming to join in. Another employee, one in charge of security, took notice that Lars did not purchase an entry ticket, attempting to bypass the line. Acting to stop Lars, the security guard approached Lars to prevent him from entering.

"Pardon me, sir, but I believe you've forgotten to purchase an entry ticket." The security guard said.

"Oh, don't worry, I got a pass." Lars said.

"May I see it?"

"...No."

"And why not?"

"Because you did not say the magic word."

"And what is the magic word, sir?"

"Why, 'please', of course."

"May I see your pass, please, sir?"

"Well, since you asked so nicely."

Lars extended the security guard his middle finger, giving a smirk as he did so. The security guard was not amused nor pleased by Lars' antics, now deciding to take action.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave, sir." The security guard said.

"I'm afraid you'll have to try a little harder than that, white boy. Your mom certainly took much harder from me last night, and she's already made me her new boyfriend. You'd better loosen up that attitude or I may not take you out for ice cream, young man." Lars said.

"Okay, let's go."

The security guard attempted to apprehend Lars, trying to gently escort him outside, only to be stopped in a rather crude fashion. Lars delivered a sharp kick to the security guard's groin, bringing an Earth-shattering pain to his testicles. Not able to withstand the pain, the security guard fell to the ground with a wince.

" _No vuelvas a meterte en mi camino, perra._ " Lars said.

Lars walked into the skating pit, standing in the middle of the path of numerous skating teenagers and young adults. Selecting the weakest target in his sight, Lars pushed a teenager off of his board, knocking him to the ground. With the teenager out of his way, Lars took his board for himself, skating off to leave the boy helpless.

After skating for a few minutes, performing a few tricks, Lars took notice of a young woman skating alongside a young man, the two holding hands. Disregarding the obvious display of affection marking the two as together, Lars took no care in this, only concerning himself with the young woman's above-average chest and impressive behind.

Selecting his next target for mischief, Lars cut in between the two, nudging away the young man and making advances to the young woman, much to her discomfort and annoyance.

"Hey, baby, what's your name?" Lars asked.

"In case you didn't notice, I'm taken." The woman said.

"That's a long-ass name. How about I just call you Stacy instead?"

"How about you piss off?"

"How about you show me your pisser?"

Lars began to grope at the young woman, eliciting a yelp from her and making her land a slap to Lars' face. Lars, not so dissuaded, slapped the woman back, hard enough to knock her to the ground. By this time, many of the other skaters began taking notice of Lars' actions.

"Alright, bitch, you're lucky I like things a little rough, because, now, I'm gonna make you forget all about that beta bitch." Lars said.

Before Lars could continue anything towards the young woman, the young man returned, smacking Lars in the back of his head with his skateboard. Lars, not able to anticipate the attack, fell face-first on the ground, quickly getting himself back up to face his attacker.

"Alright, punk, you do that to my girlfriend, you and I are gonna have some words!" The young man said.

"Oh, you're gonna have some words, alright, and they're gonna be along the lines of ' _Oh, please stop hurting me_ ', or some pussy shit like that." Lars said.

The young man pounced on Lars, going for as much blood as he could. Lars, more experienced in street fights, kicked the man off, grabbing him by his head and punching him in the face repetitively. The surrounding skaters, trying to come to the young man's assist, all tried to move Lars off. Lars, far stronger than the lot of the young people, pushed them off with relative ease.

In the midst of the brawl, however, the security guards of Zero Gravity Zone took notice of the fight and immediately rushed in to break it up. The security guards, though not given an easy task, all grabbed hold of Lars and lifted him up, preventing him from fighting further.

One of the security guards, having Lars in a vulnerable position, walked up to speak to him. The security guard was the very one that Lars assaulted not moments ago, more than eager to let in a last comeback.

"I guess I'm not getting that ice cream, huh?" The security guard joked.

The rest of the security guards, holding Lars tightly, carried him away, removing him from the skate park. Upon exiting the door, the security guards tossed him to the concrete ground, beridding themselves of the problem of Lars Rodriguez.

Lars, picking himself off of the hard concrete ground, threw a rock at the front door of Zero Gravity Zone, angered with his treatment.

"You gringo pricks! Your stupid park sucks anyway!" Lars shouted.

Not being able to terrorize the park nor its guests anymore, Lars angrily walked away, looking for another outlet for his immature aggression.

Standing in the corner, however, a group of shady-looking characters looked upon Lars, all laughing at his charades at Zero Gravity Zone. Lars, taking notice of the laughing characters, grew annoyed with their mockery far too fast, ready to start his next fight.

"What the hell are you pricks laughing at?! Don't you have a circle jerk to start down in San Fransisco?" Lars asked.

"I apologize for my colleagues, but we couldn't help but laugh at your little miscommunication with the staff of Zero Gravity Zone. For a second there, we really thought you would win that fight." The leader said.

"So what do you want from me, a blowjob?"

"Not quite, my friend. See, we were looking for someone that likes to cause a little ruckus, someone who likes to make a big mess and not care who's going to clean it up, much like yourself."

"Oh, yeah? So, what are you, demolition workers?"

"Not quite. We're a little band of misfits that call ourselves 'The Rippers'. We like to make a little ruckus ourselves."

"How cute. But, what do you do exactly? I mean, I get you guys wanna mess shit up, which I'm totally down with, but I wanna know what exactly you wanna mess up."

"Judging by your choice of afternoon activities, I assume that you enjoy skateboarding?"

"Ever since I could walk."

"That's a good answer, because I have a good question for you. How would you like to, as you would so eloquently word it, blow shit up for me, on a little mission, with me and my boys?"

While Lars had never held a job that lasted longer than a span of 3 hours, the promise of having a job where he was permitted to cause mayhem and collateral damage was extremely intriguing to him. Interested in the offer, Lars inquired further, wanting more details on the job.

"What kind of mission?" Lars asked.


	4. Chapter 3: Dinner at Ray's

**CHAPTER 3: DINNER AT RAY'S**

With nighttime arriving in the town of Ocean Shores, Otto Rocket, aiming to make good on accepting the offer to attend his father's dinner party, skated down the streets of Ocean Shores to make an on-time arrival.

As the streets of Ocean Shores remained empty and lifeless, only the only sound that filled the air was Otto's board rolling across the concrete ground, the rattling of polyurethane against concrete monotonously cutting through the eerie silence. Otto, stopping to reflect on the silence, began to think over Twister's comments about the town's emptiness again. Missing the loud music of beach parties; the rolling of skateboards, cheering, and loud music not a few miles away, occupying a skate park that was normally closed for business; and the sounds of endless summers filling the air.

Now, only a few skaters could be heard if listening hard enough, the waves of the ocean, while still ridden, only were ridden by jobless and derelict surfers, and even the most luxurious houses were still unoccupied. Was Twister simply romanticizing the past, searching for a time in his life before he knew hardships and struggles, or, was Ocean Shores truly a shadow of its former self?

As much as Otto wanted to continue his thoughts about the state of his city, hoping to remember some of the old days of his childhood that he continues to seek in his neverending search for a ride, his sense of logic brought his thoughts back to Ray's dinner party. Pushing himself further down the street, Otto continued to skate down to his father's house.

* * *

Upon finally reaching the cul-de-sac that he was raised in, Otto arrived at his destination. Standing outside his father's house, the very place he grew up in, Otto mustered up all of his energy to approach the door.

Otto approached the door, taking a deep breath as he did so, readying himself to finally speak to his father for the first time in a good 7 years. When first leaving his father's house, moving in with his best friend, Twister, the only thing that was on his mind was getting out and doing whatever he pleased as an adult.

No longer having his father to hold him back from anything, Otto wanted to live things up as much as he could, all in spite of his father, never planning to speak with him again. Now, with his father trying to repair the damage on their relationship as father and son, Otto found himself having no idea what to do in this situation.

 _He's just trying to make things better. He's just trying to make things better. Just go with whatever he does. If all else fails, go for the food._ Otto thought.

After setting his skateboard on the side of the house, Otto knocked on the door, anxiously awaiting an answer. As he awaited the door to open, Otto deeply contemplated the thought of walking away, hoping to simply avoid his problems, but, for the sake of the promise he made to Tito, fought his urge to do so.

Once a few seconds that seemed to last much longer had passed, the door opened, revealing Ray Rocket standing at the threshold. Upon looking at Otto, the two found themselves at a loss for words, neither of them fully prepared to say anything to one another. Despite how much Ray had planned out his party, he had no idea on how to repair the bond he once shared with his son.

After a tense moment of awkward waiting, Otto finally broke the silence with a simple, but effective, greeting.

"Hey." Otto said.

"Hey, Rocket Boy. Been a while." Ray replied.

"Yeah, it has."

After Otto let out his greeting, the two began to share another awkward moment, neither still having anything to say to each other. This time, Ray decided to break the silence.

"Well, uh, won't you come in?" Ray asked.

"Oh, yeah. Sure." Otto replied.

Otto stepped inside the house, taking note of his surroundings. Although neither he nor Reggie had been in the house for years now, the house had not changed almost at all, still looking the same as it was so long ago.

"Sure has been a while since I've been here. Hasn't changed much." Otto said.

"Yeah, really not much to change. It's just been me and Noelani for the past few years." Ray replied.

Not having anything more to say, more awkward silence fell between the two, not having anything to say to one another, having fallen out so much. Ray, remembering his mission on repairing his relationship with his son, began to inquire into his life, trying to find a way to connect.

"...So... How, uh... How've you been doing?" Ray asked.

"Okay, I guess. Me and Twister moved in to a small place." Otto said.

"Yeah, Tito tells me you don't keep it very clean."

"Yeah, I really don't. I'll admit that."

"So... are you... seeing anybody?"

"Remember Clio?"

"Oh, Twister's cousin? You two hit it off?"

"Yeah, well, no, well... it's kind of complicated. She just shows up every now and then, we hang out, we kiss, we... you know..."

"What do I know?"

Otto gave Ray a suggestive notion, not wanting to verbally explain what the two do in their time together.

"...Ooh. Right. So... you're... what do they call it?" Ray asked.

"...Friends with benefits?" Otto shrugged.

"Yeah, that's it."

"Kind of, I guess, I... Meh, I really don't know."

Another awkward silence fell on the two, still not able to continue a friendly conversation, whether it be for lack of conversation topic or withholding statements neither wanted to say to each other.

"How about we go sit at the table?" Ray asked.

"Yeah, sounds good. I'm pretty hungry." Otto said.

"Yeah, me too. I could go for a Hotdurger right about now."

"Same here."

Walking onto the balcony to get themselves some food, Ray and Otto were immediately greeted by Noelani, Reggie and Tito, all happy to see to the whole family together again.

"So, you decided to show up, little cuz." Tito said.

Noelani, ever the nicest of the bunch and happy to see Otto again after a long time apart, rushed to him and gave a hug.

"Otto! Good to see you again, I missed you a lot." Noelani said.

Unfortunately, Noelani put too much zeal into her hug, causing Otto to struggle to breathe properly.

" _Yeah... I... missed... you guys... too.. Can't really breathe..._ " Otto said.

Taking notice of Otto's respiratory struggles, Reggie had Noelani loosen up her hug, allowing Otto to catch his breath.

"Hey, he just got here, are you trying to choke him already?" Reggie joked.

"Oh, goodness. I'm so sorry, I didn't-" Noelani tried to say.

"It's cool, Noelani. Just go easy on the grip next time." Otto laughed.

With the group sharing small laugh together, the mood seemed all too well for this family gathering. All came in a good mood, a good laugh was shared, and, all sitting down at the table, each of them enjoyed a delicious meal prepared by Tito himself: A main course consisting of Hotdurgers with french fries boiled to a perfect crisp.

"Hey, Rocket Boy. Glad you decided to come." Reggie said.

"Yeah, but I'm not staying all night. Me and Twist got plans." Otto said.

"Plans to smoke marijuana with Twister, I hear?" Ray asked.

"Yeah. We like our grass."

"I figured you'd be a pothead in no time hanging out with Twister all that time. You two always struck me as the guys that would go for it."

"By the way, Tito told me you an him smoked a lot when you guys were younger. Did you really?"

"Heh-heh, yeah. Tito and I smoked a lot at your age before pot was legal. One time, we even had a smoke-off against Bradley Nowell, and we won."

Not believing his father's story but enticed by its premise, Otto let out a laugh. Tito, both reminiscing on the aforementioned event and viewing it from an objective point of view.

"Wow, really?" Otto asked.

"Well, parts of that story may be a little exaggerated, little cuz. The guy did _look_ like Bradley and we did smoke two joints, or maybe more." Tito said.

Everyone at the table gave another hearty laugh, the family making light of Ray and Tito's ridiculous antics during their younger years and sharing a moment of happiness together.

"So, Otto, what have you been doing for work? Got a job somewhere?" Ray asked.

"A job? No way. Me and Twist run a NewTube channel where we film ourselves, mainly me, doing all kinds of sports. Skating, rollerblading, surfing, biking, all kinds of stuff." Otto said.

Ray found himself slightly disheartened by Otto's reaction to the concept of a job, but tried to keep an open mind to how he maintains himself. After hearing about how many people live successful lives working on NewTube, perhaps Otto was doing just fine.

"A NewTube channel, huh? Does it pay good?" Ray asked.

"It pays okay, I guess. We've got a decent amount of people watching us and getting some ad money. We're waiting for some more people to catch on to the channel and give us more views. In the meantime, me and Twister play some music down in Huntington Beach on the weekends and get a decent amount of money." Otto replied.

Ray wasn't too pleased to hear how Otto and his best friend were living unproductive lives, but he tried his best to keep his opinions down in order to keep the party stable. Not wishing to say something that he would regret, Ray decided not to pry further.

"Oh, what kind of music do you play?" Noelani asked.

"Mostly skunk and reggae. Last week we did some Sublime, some 311, and Slightly Stoopid, now we're thinking about Rancid and Reel Big Fish next weekend to switch it up." Otto replied.

"'Skunk'? What kind of music is that?"

"It's just another name for ska punk. You take the 'sk' from 'ska' and the 'unk' from 'punk', and that turns to 'skunk'."

"I see. What kind of instruments do you play?"

"I play acoustic guitar and Twist does acoustic bass and ukulele; we trade off who sings lead between songs."

"And this is the kind of life you like to live, Otto?" Ray asked.

"Yeah, I guess so. Things go pretty well."

"Pretty well, huh? Don't you ever think about doing something different with you life?"

"Different how?"

"Different like... more productive to society?"

Otto lifted an eyebrow, preparing to challenge Ray's words and sentiments. Reggie, recognizing the potential problems that could and most possible would ensue from such a conversation, tried to defuse the situation as best as she could.

"Dad, we agreed not to bring this up-" Reggie tried to say.

"No, no, no, hang on a sec, Reg. I wanna hear what Dad's idea of 'more productive' is." Otto said.

"By 'more productive', I mean something like a real job." Ray said.

"Define 'real job'."

"Something you go to school to learn how to do."

"Dad, I never did well in school as a kid. What makes you think that I wanna go back to suck harder than last time? I'd just be wasting my own money and time."

"You never did well in school because you always focused too much on sports and never enough on school. If you focused a little harder, you might get further."

"Further for what? A shitty job that'll bore me to death? Why would I want that when I have everything I want right now?"

"A NewTube channel with no money, playing music on the side of the road, and living in a dingy pigsty of a house is everything you want out of life?"

"Ray, maybe we should talk about something else-" Noelani tried say.

Despite Noelani's attempts to diffuse the situation, her attempts went unheard, as the conversation was already on its course and set to self-destruct. Everyone at the table took notice of the intensity brewing, only watching in discomfort as the anger between the father and son continued.

"At least I'm enjoying my life right now. What about you? Still flipping burgers at 60?" Otto replied.

" _60?!_ I'm 50! And I've been doing it for years, not because I'm not successful, but because that's what I wanted to do with my life! I've always loved it, and I made something of what I loved doing. What are you doing, skating on the internet while getting paid nothing to do it?!"

As the conversation continued to uncomfortable levels, Ray and Otto were starting to become visibly becoming hostile with each other, leaning closer in towards one another across the table. The rest of the family, still extremely uncomfortable with the turn of events, continued to try to calm things down, but the fight was at the point of no return.

"Otto! Dad! What are you two doing?!" Reggie cut in.

"I'm doing what _I_ want to do with my life right now, and I'm enjoying it just fine! How is that so different from you?!" Otto replied.

"Because I'm not a failure with no future who lives in a rat's nest with a brain-dead stoner!" Ray replied.

After Ray hurled his final blow, the dinner table went dead silent, all shocked at Ray's demeaning remark towards his own son. Otto, after taking a moment to process being called a failure by his own father, finally gave his own reply to Ray.

"Is that what you think I am? A failure? Who the hell are you to speak, running a burger stand with no customers? While I'm actually making some money from what I do, you're living off retirement money at 50, cashing out like some burn-out rock star. Who's the real failure?" Otto replied.

After hearing Otto make his points, Ray tried to respond and retort his argument, but, upon hearing them out, he found himself having nothing to say.

"Don't bother answering that, I'm outta here." Otto said.

No longer able to take any more verbal abuse from his father and no longer having any appetite left for Tito's Hotdurgers, Otto got up and proceeded to leave the house. Noelani, trying to pull the pieces of the party back together, rushed to stop him, trying to get him to return to the table.

"Otto, please, wait! Ray didn't really mean all that. He's just... a tad frustrated with himself." Noelani explained.

"Oh, he's frustrated with himself, alright. Frustrated that he didn't get the son he wanted." Otto said.

Not ready to listen to any help, Otto brushed Noelani off, walking back in the house to head out the front door.

"Tito, you and Twister can smoke that bowl without me. I'm going skating." Otto replied.

As Otto left, Noelani found herself feeling defeated, not being able to persuade Otto to stay. Reggie, trying to stop Noelani from feeling bad about herself, rushed to comfort her.

"Don't feel bad. You guys tried your best. I guess some people you just can't reach." Reggie said.

At the side of the balcony, Ray leaned on the side, upset at both himself for acting out at his son and disappointed that his plan failed and dinner was ruined. Tito, trying to comfort his best friend, gave him a hearty pat on the back, accompanying him.

"Well, brutha, it was a good try." Tito said.

"Maybe he's right. Maybe I'm no better a person than he is." Ray replied.

"You were just trying to push him to do something better with his life. All fathers want to do that for their sons."

"It's not that. I pushed him like this because I didn't want him to end up like me. I failed."

* * *

A short while later, in downtown Ocean Shores, within the strip mall that housed Sam's Electronics Store, Otto skated alone in the parking lot, attempting to vent out his frustrations in a productive way.

After trying to perform several kickflips that would have normally been no challenge for the seasoned skater, too many falls to the ground proved that he was far too upset about his own actions and the actions of his father to focus on anything. Deciding to stop skating and find a place to himself, Otto angrily threw his board against the wall of an alleyway, pacing back and forth in place.

"Man, what a prick! The guy has a burger stand with no business and he barely cares about me anymore, and he still has the gall to shove his self-righteousness down my throat. Who does he think he is?!" Otto ranted.

Out of anger, Otto took an empty 40 ounce bottle off the ground and smashed it against a wall. Still not satisfied with breaking the glass, Otto continued to take several pieces of garbage off of the ground and throw them at the wall, trying to vent his frustrations out.

Needing to calm himself down, Otto sat down on the ground, leaning against the wall. After his aggression soon turned to fatigue and sadness, Otto took a deep breath and stood still, sadly contemplating his life.

"Maybe he is right. Nobody watches our channel. We barely make enough money for food and pot without unemployment checks. But, me, in a school? Who am I kidding? I _am_ a failure. He was right." Otto said.

* * *

At Otto and Twister's house, things seemed to progress slightly easier than other places. Sam, Twister, and Clio all awaited Otto to arrive back, all impatiently awaiting to start their marijuana-smoking session, with Sam growing anxious about the experience.

"So, what exactly is it gonna be like? Am I gonna just go completely numb? I don't think I like the idea of not having any of my motor control-" Sam began to ask.

"Hey, relax, Squid, once you're high, you're not gonna care about any of that. You're just gonna have a good time, and you're gonna feel just fine." Twister said.

"Where the hell is Otto, though? He always gets late with most of our dates, and he never seems to care about it." Clio said.

"Well, you know Otto, he's probably just getting some shredding done before he gets back."

"Well, if he makes me wait another 10 minutes, I plan to be 'shredding' his nuts once he gets here. I'm starting to get tired of the stuff he pulls. I swear all he cares about anymore is sex."

As Clio continued to reflect on Otto's poor treatment of their relationship, a knock at the door was heard, promptly catching the attention of the group. Twister, quick to open the door, was met with Tito standing at the door, expecting to see Otto instead.

"Hey, Tito, what brings you here... again?" Twister asked.

"Otto said I could join in on your smoke session." Tito said.

Tito pulled a bag of marijuana out of his shirt pocket, showing its contents to the three young adults, with Tito giving a smile at their reactions.

"After he wasted your last joint, I offered to share some of my kush." Tito said.

"So, where's Otto?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, Tito, didn't he come back with you?" Twister asked.

Tito took a moment to answer, not wanting to reflect on the disaster that occurred at Ray's failed dinner party.

"The little cuz's not coming tonight. Things didn't go well at the party, and he rushed off to be by himself." Tito replied.

"Shouldn't we, like, go after him?" Twister asked.

"And let this chronic go to waste?"

As the whole group all were more than ready to smoke, no one protested Tito's argument. Clio, however, disappointed that Otto stood her up, found herself not caring about the marijuana anymore, instead deciding to leave.

"As much as I appreciate the offer, Tito, I'm going to have to pass. I was waiting for Otto, and, since it looks like he's not coming back, I guess I won't be either." Clio said.

"Wait, what do you mean?" Twister said.

"Otto pulls things like this all the time. I'm tired of dealing with it. You enjoy the grass, little cuz, I'm gonna go back home."

Clio walked past Tito at the front door, proceeding to head home. The group, all surprised at Clio's abandoning of their relationship, found themselves baffled at her reaction.

"Well, uh, that's not gonna be easy news to break to Otto." Sam said.

"Ah, whatever, man. My cousin always gets annoying. I'm glad I don't have to suffer those two anymore. Let's just get smoking. Tito, care to shut the door and take a seat?" Twister asked.

"Uh... Yeah, right, cuz." Tito said.

At Twister's request, Tito shut the door to the house and sat down on the couch. As Tito portioned out a bud of marijuana, Twister placed the portioned bud into his pipe, and lit the bud. With the herb now beginning to give off smoke, Twister handed the lit pipe to Sam, offering him the first hit.

"Squid, you're the newbie to the smoke circle, would you care to start us off?" Twister asked.

"Uh... okay." Sam said.

"Don't worry, dude. Just hold that little hole on the side, breathe it in, hold it in as much as you can, and enjoy the ride."

Following Twister's instructions, Sam inhaled a large portion of the smoke, held in the smoke for a few seconds, and finally let it out, coughing heavily as he exhaled. As Sam let the vaporized cannabis out of his lungs, Twister gave laugh at his heavy reaction.

"That's it, Squid. You're off to a good start." Twister said.

"H- Hey, Twister, I feel kind of... of... of..." Sam tried to say.

Suddenly, before he could finish his own sentence, Sam began laughing maniacally, rocking back and forth in his seat. After getting off the couch, Sam began to furiously pace across the room, continuing to laugh maniacally as he did so.

Never having seen anyone react to marijuana the way Sam did, Twister went into complete shock at what he had witnessed, not knowing what to think of his friend seemingly going insane from the marijuana strain.

"Dude... What the hell did you give him?" Twister asked.

"Pineapple Express, fresh from Hawaii." Tito replied.

"Tito... I've never seen anybody react like that on weed, like, ever."

"They ain't never tried Pineapple Express before, cuz."

"Well, then, I'm going next!"

Carefully taking the pipe from Sam's hands, Twister immediately inhaled a large dose of Pineapple Express and, after a brief period of waiting for the drug to take its effect, subsequently started laughing uncontrollably as well, reacting the same as Sam. While Tito was glad to see the two enjoying his marijuana, he felt slightly left out from the party, not having joined in yet.

"I guess beauty all came before age in this instance, but oh well." Tito said.

Taking the pipe next, Tito smoked the last of the marijuana, starting to laugh uncontrollably as well, only choosing to remain on the couch. Now, with all of the marijuana smoked and having entered the bloodstreams of the group, the three occupants of the house were left highly intoxicated, and loving every minute of it.

* * *

[Soundtrack Cue: The Prodigy - Break & Enter]

Elsewhere, down the vacant streets of Ocean Shores, another group of individuals set out into the night for fun, but not anywhere near in a harmless manner as our intoxicated acquaintances.

Racing down the streets of Ocean Shores, a group of individuals dressed in high-tech suits rushed across the city at high-speeds, testing out their primary method of transportation. While the untrained eye would perceive that these individuals were simply riding skateboards, perhaps modified in some way to explain their fast speeds, further inspection will indicate that this is not the case.

These individuals rode atop gravity-defying skateboards that hovered off the ground, or, as popular culture would call them, hoverboards.

Since the late 1980s with the release of a particular science fiction movie called _Back to the Future II_ , many among many attempts have been made to create such a contraption. Many wished to create it simply to live the film, others sought the challenge of a chance to make a new discovery, and some looked towards it with the intent for money.

These individuals, after stealing a particular strange technology from a mid-air heist, have found the key to achieving that success. However, as many people who have pondered whether we can create devices that defy gravity, no one has thought to ponder whether we should.

The technology-threaded men riding them are the prime example to that question. Where most would look towards the technology to simply have fun, these men have chosen to use the technology in a less honest, more selfish way.

The group, racing down the streets, sought out a place to wreak havoc on, to initiate mayhem, all for a profit. They have been sent to this town for a reason, on a job, and they make very good plans to complete that job.

"Hey, newbie, we're enjoying the ride, and I'm sure you are, too; but where exactly is this electronics place we should blow up?" One rider asked.

The subject of the question was a new member to the group, interested not simply in the paycheck, but of all the mayhem and chaos that led to the paycheck. If you'd been paying attention earlier, you would know that this man is Lars Rodriguez, out for a personal vendetta against Sam Dullard for a perceived wrongdoing in his twisted mind.

"It's right this way, boys, you can't miss it." Lars said.

[Soundtrack Cue End]


	5. Chapter 4: Going Aerial

**CHAPTER 4:** **GOING AERIAL**

In an alleyway just outside of Sam's Electronics Store, Otto Rocket laid softly in the alley, wishing to find a moment alone from the troubles of his own life. After a rather unpleasant dinner with his family, and a less-than-pleasant fight with his father, Otto found himself needing to take a rest to sleep off his troubles.

His rest, however, was soon interrupted by something rather strange to hear at this time of night at this particular location. Somewhere nearby, a loud cluttering noise was heard, awakening Otto from his rest.

Still groggy from his sleep, Otto got up to investigate the source of the noise. After investigating the area for a minute, lightly scanning the area, he seemed unable to find the source of the noise. Not too concerned with the noise, Otto then disregarded it altogether, deciding to go sit back down alone.

The noise occurred again, now summoning Otto's full attention to the matter. Growing annoyed by the noise interrupting his rest, Otto skated around the block to find the source of the noise, wishing to end the obnoxious noise.

Upon searching for the noise, Otto found himself behind the local strip mall, an area that should be well-abandoned at this hour. After skating further around to the parking lot to investigate, he found the noise once again disappeared, leaving the lot at a dead silence.

Just as he was about to turn his back to leave, hoping to put the noise behind him, Otto heard the noise one more time. This time, however, he found the source of the strange noise. The noise was coming from Sam's Electronics Store itself, coming from the inside of the building. Otto, checking the source of the noise, went to the front door and proceeded to open it, looking to investigate the store.

Before he could check the source of the noise, out of nowhere, the store exploded in a violent flash of light, the force knocking Otto back several feet away and onto the hard asphalt ground. Barely able to overcome the force of the blast and the impact of the asphalt, Otto found himself struggling to focus on the present moment.

Upon regaining full consciousness, his eyesight just barely coming back into focus, Otto saw several masked figures in high-tech suits leave the store with several bags of stolen goods.

"Ha! Why didn't we think to hit this place sooner?" One asked.

"You didn't have me to tell you about this place. I've just been with you Ripper guys for a while, but I like you already." A different one replied.

"Yeah, we appreciate the enthusiasm, but we'd better get out of here before the cops show up." Another one said.

Finally bringing himself on his feet again, Otto brought himself to confront the robbers, aiming to save the stolen goods of his friend's store.

"Hey, you! Hold it right there!" Otto said.

The robbers, not taking prior notice of Otto, turned to him upon hearing his call. The robbers' masks had glowing ice-blue eyes, giving a rather soulless look to their appearances. Otto, not planning his confrontation carefully, found himself low on options on how to stop the high-tech robbers.

Thinking over his options carefully, Otto chose what could possibly be the dumbest option he had.

"Uh... You're under arrest! You have the right to remain silent!" Otto said.

The robbers, not knowing what to make of Otto's remark, found themselves completely dumbfounded by his bluff. Upon realizing that he did not actually have any means of stopping the group, the robbers started laughing hysterically at his efforts.

"Man, we were just gonna kill you, but that was a pretty good laugh, so we'll just knock you out instead. Consider this merciful." The third robber said.

The third robber pulled out a strange-looking handgun, not resembling anything a common store thief would carry. Flipping a switch on his handgun, the third robber shot Otto with a rubber bullet to his stomach, knocking him on his back again. Not prepared for another fall to his back not a rubber bullet to his gut, Otto gave a loud groan of pain.

"See you later, punk-ass!" The first robber said.

Finding his motivation to stop the robbers, Otto got himself back up again, continuing to confront the robbers. With the robbers now beginning to run from the scene, Otto continued his pursuit on foot.

"Hey, you! Stop!" Otto called.

The robbers, preparing to make their proper escape, pulled skateboards off their backs and threw them to the ground, subsequently hopping on and quickly skating away. However, to Otto's surprise, there was something very different about these skateboards. These boards had no wheels nor any way to connect to the ground; these boards seemed to hover off the ground, defying gravity itself. Otto, never having seen such a sight in his life, found himself completely dumbfounded by the sight of the hoverboards.

"What the hell?" Otto thought aloud.

Thinking quickly, Otto overcame his initial surprise and jumped onto the nearest robber's board, gripping tightly onto it. As the board continued to move down the street, Otto found himself facing the asphalt scraping against him, as he was being dragged at several miles per hour on the board.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?! You're gonna mess up my gyro-stabilization!" The robber said.

"I'm not letting you get away! You'll never shake me off!" Otto replied.

"Maybe I can't shake you off the ground, but how about in the air?"

[Soundtrack Cue: Powerman 5000 - Supernova Goes Pop]

Before Otto could question what the robber was meant, two small rockets appeared on the sides of the board as the robber pushed a pedal on the board with his foot. As the rockets pulled out to the sides, the rockets ignited, blasting the board several hundred miles per hour in seconds, reaching the sky in little to no time.

Otto, barely even able to comprehend the bizarre turn of events, felt his jaw drop as events unfolded.

" _ **OH, GOD, HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT!**_ " Otto screamed.

As Otto continued his childish panic, the board stabilized itself in the air, bringing the flight to a more stable flight pattern. With the board under control, the robber pulled Otto off of the edge of the board and placed him firmly on the center.

"You- You helped me on?" Otto questioned.

Rather than answer his question with words, the robber answered his question with a sharp punch to his face, nearly knocking Otto back off the board. With just enough determination and balance, Otto managed to prevent himself from falling off the hoverboard, averting a fall to his death.

"I want to enjoy whomping you, Rocket Dork!" The robber said.

 _'Rocket Dork"? "Whomp"? The only person who calls me that is... No way, it can't be..._ Otto thought.

As Otto's thoughts began to contemplate the identity of the robber, his thoughts were quickly stopped with another punch to the face, bringing a sharp, stinging pain to his mind in place. Needing to place his focus on the more important matters at hand, Otto placed his mind back into the fight.

"What's the matter? Never been in a fist-fight before?" The robber asked.

The robber began to throw another punch, aiming to make a sufficient blow to knock Otto off the board once and for all. This time, however, Otto ducked the punch with enough speed, following his duck by landing an uppercut to the robber's stomach, making him cough heavily from lack of air.

"Way more than you've ever been in, techno-freak!" Otto replied.

The two began to land more punches into each other for a few minutes, each strike following with each other trying to balance on the board in the air. With the combatants balancing their thoughts between balancing the board and attacking the other, the fight began to become more and more tense with every blow, one of the two more and more likely to make a mistake that would lead to both of their deaths.

Realizing this inevitable fact, Otto got an idea to finish the fight. Leaning his body to the side, holding tightly onto the board with his hands, the board's balace was misaligned, causing it to spiral out of control toward the ground. The robber, holding onto the board with a pair of magnetic boots, found himself in a state of vertigo, the whole world seemingly spinning around him.

Finally, the board crashed into an alleyway, landing with a loud crash and sending the two passengers tumbling down the concrete.

[Soundtrack Cue End]

As his consciousness began to return to him, Otto began to bring himself back on his feet again, ready to continue the fight. The robber also brought himself on his feet again, cracking his neck in readiness.

When the smoke cleared, the robber's mask was visibly gone from his face, revealing his true identity. Having already taken a good guess at the robber's identity after his particular vocabulary choices, Otto was not surprised in the least.

"Lars... Why am I not surprised?" Otto asked.

"Surprised that I would do something like this? I wouldn't on my own, but thanks to the Rippers, I plan to do a lot more than that." Lars replied.

"The Rippers? Who are they?"

"No one you'll ever get to know, because I'm gonna kill you. Any last words?"

"Yeah, I got a few. Is killing me gonna cost you a leg to go with that arm?"

Confused by Otto's remark, Lars looked to his arm, hoping to understand his words. To his shock and horror, his right arm was completely gone, being severed off somehow from the crash. Upon seeing himself missing his dominant limb, Lars screamed in shock and agony, falling to the ground.

"My arm! Oh, god, I'm missing my arm!" Lars shouted.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna call the cops. I hope you like being a southpaw." Otto said.

Otto walked towards the nearest payphone, hoping to bring Lars to justice and ending his newfound career as a criminal. Before he could reach the payphone, however, the payphone exploded, causing Otto to step back to avoid the blast. In the skies, the two other robbers revealed themselves as the destroyers of the payphone, preparing to fly down and confront him.

"Think you got away from us?" One asked.

"Think again, skater punk!" The other said.

Realizing that he was outnumbered and outgunned, Otto raced his thoughts as fast as he could to find a way out of the situation he was stuck in. Taking notice of Lars' board, Otto grabbed it and began to skate away as fast as he could. As fast as Otto was as a skater, he was nowhere near fast enough to get away from the two pursuing robbers.

After several miles of pursuit down Ocean Shores, the tension of the chase growing and growing with every minute, Otto tried to find a way to speed up. Frantically hitting a selector pad near his foot, Otto began desperately trying whatever methods he could do speed away.

"Where the hell is the 'fly' button on this thing? Isn't there at least a 'turbo'?" Otto thought aloud.

Upon thinking aloud, his wish was granted, albeit at a rate faster than he was hoping for. Accidentally selecting a button reading 'Rocket Boost' on the board, the hoverboard began blasting away several miles away from the robbers within seconds, leaving Otto barely hanging onto the board.

With their target out of sight, the two robbers stopped their pursuit, needing to tend back to Lars. Racing back to the alleyway, Lars still remained laying on the ground, lamenting over his lost arm.

"You guys do realize the boss is not gonna be happy about this, right?" One asked.

"WHO THE HELL CARES?! MY ARM IS GONE! GET ME TO THE GODDAMN HOSPITAL!" Lars shouted.

"Take you to a hospital after we robbed a store. Real smooth, stupid. Let's head back to the boss, he'll know what to do." The other robber said.

Tending to the newest member of their team, the two robbers grabbed Lars and began to drag him off to a safer location.

* * *

Miles away, Otto was spinning out of control on his rocketing hoverboard, not having any control of his speed. After a long period of racing down Ocean Shores, screaming all the way, Otto took notice of the beach coming ahead in his view, getting an idea to stop.

Upon reaching the beach, Otto adjusted his body weight to spin the board to the side, causing both him and the board to crash on the beach. Otto hit the goround hard, but the having a soft bed of sand underneath him was less of a blow than concrete.

After letting out a pained groan and getting back off the ground again, Otto finally rose to his feet, cracking his back to fix his posture correctly again.

" _Ugh... That's gonna be sore tomorrow._ " Otto groaned.

With his consciousness beginning to return to him, Otto began to take a moment to process all that he had seen, barely able to comprehend the amazing experience that just occurred.

A new group of super-criminals occupied Ocean Shores, and they use hoverboards, a technology never seen to the world before. After surviving the encounter, now Otto owned one of their hoverboards. Upon realizing this, Otto put his thoughts back to what he had to do now.

"Shit! I gotta get back to the house!" Otto said.

Taking the board off of the ground, Otto quickly rushed back to his house on his newly acquired board, needing to meet up with Twister and Sam.

* * *

Upon finally arriving home, Otto immediately rushed to the door and went inside, more than ready to share the ordeal that he had just went through.

"Twist! Squid! You guys gotta-" Otto began to say.

However, before Otto could share the fight between him and the high-tech robbers, he stopped in his tracks upon seeing what became of his friends, not expecting the sight before him.

[Soundtrack Cue: Sublime - Smoke Two Joints]

Behind a thick veil of marijuana smoke, all the occupants of Otto's home were high beyond credible belief, all barely able to consciously function.

Sam, the newest smoker to the group, was chowing down on several bags of FunYums and several other junk food items, sitting on the floor in a move of lethargy.

Twister, acting more hyper and focused in his high, was writing down several nonsensical words and letters on a chalkboard, something Otto wasn't aware that they owned. While writing his glossolalic text on the chalkboard, Twister and Sam began debating over their favorite issues of _Danny Phantom_ , not finding any middle ground.

"Come on, dude, _Mystery Meat_ was the first issue in the series. It was the best!" Twister said.

"No, I disagree, while _Mystery Meat_ was a very good issue and a great start to the series, _The Ultimate Enemy_ was the best storyline. It spanned two issues long, it featured a bleak, alternate timeline, and it featured the main character's alternate future self as his enemy. I seriously hope they bring the character back." Sam retorted.

Tito, not taking part of the debate between the two fans, was fast asleep on the couch. On the TV, several old sitcoms played in Picture-in-Picture mode, but Tito was far too stuck in his nap to watch them.

Otto, after overcoming the initial shock of seeing his friends completely intoxicated, remembered their smoke session that he decided not to join in, having forgotten about it after his fight with the robbers. Once he overcame the shock of seeing his friends completely intoxicated, Otto proceeded to shock the group out of their high.

Walking to the side of the house, Otto grabbed the garden hose, turned the water valve open, and returned to the front door. After waiting a moment for the pressure to build, Otto's patience was finally paid off, as the hose sprayed a huge blast of cold water all over the group, immediately sobering up most of them with the cold water freezing them out of their high.

[Soundtrack Cue End]

"Twist! Sam! Sober up, I got bad news!" Otto said.

With his sobriety returning and what excuses for his concentration with it, Twister, after spitting the cold water out of his mouth, immediately got angry at Otto for his antics.

"What the hell is wrong with you, man?! First, you don't show for the kush, which, by the way, was the best I've ever had, then you end the best high I've ever had ever! What's so important you had to do all that?!" Twister shouted.

"Yeah, man, you just flooded your own house. What happened?" Sam asked.

After the water began to settle into the electronics, the TV started to spark and flash, subsequently exploding. With his source of entertainment during his high destroyed, Tito found himself in a state of despair.

"No! I was just getting to the part where Dawson and Joey got together!" Tito lamented.

" _And_ you trash the TV?! This better be good, Otto!" Twister said.

Preparing himself for a long, ranting run-on sentence that would rival the vocal skills of Mike Muir, Otto let out a deep breath for his next set of words.

"Well, I was sitting in an alleyway after the dinner party didn't go well when all of a sudden, I heard this weird noise and went to check it out when, all of a sudden, I was outside Sam's store, and then the whole building exploded and these three robbers in high-tech suits came out and started to get away, so I grabbed on to one of their boards, and he dragged me all the way across Ocean Shores and flew me way high in the air, and we crashed into an alleyway when I saw that this robber in particular happened to be Lars, and he was talking about being part of this weird gang called 'The Rippers', and then I had to grab his board to run away from his buddies and then I crashed onto a beach on the other side of Ocean Shores, and had to run my ass off over here to tell you guys this because I think this could be something really big and all of us could be in danger." Otto ranted.

After hearing the long, nearly nonsensical rant that Otto let out, everyone sat in a moment of silence to process everything they heard, barely able to comprehend the incredible story, let alone believe it.

"What do you think I am, Otto, stupid?" Twister asked.

"Uhh... is that a trick question?" Otto asked.

"Well, little brutha, if all that's true, how come you got no evidence to back that up?" Tito asked.

Providing the group with physical evidence, Otto briefly left the scene, returning with the hoverboard and throwing it to the ground. As the board hovered above the floor, defying gravity itself, the jaws of the entire group dropped instantly.

"That good enough for you?" Otto asked.

* * *

At an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Ocean Shores, the two robbers stepped inside, both of them continuing to carry Lars. Acting carefully with the maimed Lars Rodriguez, the two robbers laid him on the floor, with Lars continuing to groan in pain.

As Lars continued his fit of pain, the leader of the Rippers stepped into the room, taking notice of the situation, and not finding it to his liking whatsoever.

"Jesus Christ, what the hell happened out there?" The leader asked.

"Some kid caught us robbing the store and chased us down. He got on Lars' board and made him crash and lose his arm." One Ripper said.

"Goddammit, all I needed was for you three was to rob a store, not get in a fight with a local who could blurt out information about us! Please tell me you didn't lose your board as well."

Lars, still coping with his blood loss, was slow to reply, but gave his best effort to let out whatever speech he could manage.

" _Rocket Dork... did this to me... stole my board... need help..._ " Lars said.

"Oh, god, get this guy patched up. He's bleeding all over the damn floor." The leader ordered.

At his command, the two Rippers picked Lars back up and began to take him away to be tended to. Before the Rippers could take him away, Lars grabbed the leader by his shirt, letting out a final piece of information.

" _I know who did this... who did this to me..._ " Lars said.

"Okay, care to elaborate who it was so we can kill him?" The leader asked.

" _No... he's mine... fix me... I can kill him..._ "

Unable to continue to withstand the pain of his lost arm, Lars passed out in the middle of his sentence, hanging in the arms of the two Rippers. The Rippers carrying him looked to their for orders, wanting to know whether to heal him or abandon him. The leader, after contemplating for a moment, made his decision about the half-dead Lars.

"Fix the kid up. We'll humor him and fix him up, give him his chance to redeem himself." The leader said.

The Rippers, complying with their orders, dragged Lars off to a medical bay, ready to fix his injuries.

"Sleep well, kid. You're gonna make things up to us big time when we're done with you." The leader said.


	6. Chapter 5: Chasing Ghosts

**CHAPTER 5: CHASING GHOSTS**

After a long night of fighting off shock and anticipation trying to get to sleep, the occupants of Otto and Twister's house finally awoke after what constituted as sleep for the group. Wasting no time to continue inspecting their discovery from last night, the group went straight to the garage, ready to further inspect the mysterious hoverboard that Otto retrieved. Sam, being the most technologically savvy of the group, took his time to examine the board, careful with each and every piece, using his several tools and equipment as delicately as a surgeon with his scalpel.

"I've never seen anything like this in my life. Nothing in the consumer marketplace has anything even close to this." Sam said.

"What does that mean?" Twister asked.

"It means you can't just pick this up at a pro shop. This kind of technology shouldn't exist."

"Obviously, it does exist. Who'd have it and what for?" Otto asked.

"Stuff this advanced is usually government or military tech. If the guys you fought were using stuff like this, then these are no ordinary criminals we're dealing with."

"Then who are these guys? And what kind of group like this would recruit a jerk like Lars?"

"Why they'd recruit Lars I have no idea, but who they are I have even less of an idea. These guys must be some kind of underground gang, people who stay out of the papers. I've been searching the news for anything involving this 'Ripper' gang, but nothing came up."

"You mean nothing helpful?"

"No. I mean _nothing at all_ , like they don't exist. The closest I could get that sounds anything like these guys are these weird reports of robberies and arson in these small, unheard-of cities, and most of the newspapers that report them are usually tabloids or these fringe papers that nobody reads. None of them call them 'Rippers' by name, but it's possible that it just might be these guys."

"So, what are these guys doing robbing an electronics store? People with this kind of stuff wouldn't just rob some ordinary electronics store if they were gonna rob someone. No offense, Squid."

"None taken. You have a good point. It doesn't make sense. What kind of high-tech criminals would rob small businesses in a near-abandoned city?"

"Maybe they want someplace where there's not a lot of people so they don't get caught as easy?"

"Maybe, and that would explain why nobody talks about them, much less even heard of them. The fact that you encountered these guys in person is like finding a needle in a haystack by blind luck."

"I'm honored."

"Hey, Squid, how come you're not all mad that they blew up your store? I thought you really liked the place." Twister asked.

"Believe me, I'm not happy about my store being blown up in the slightest. I'm still waiting on my insurance to get back to me on this incident. In the meantime, being angry about the situation doesn't help when we have no evidence that these guys did it, let alone exist. The most I can do is try to find out who these guys are, and fast. Besides, this technology is so advanced I can't help but be excited to study it." Sam replied.

"Well, I don't know about you little cuzes, but I think we all may be in way over our heads. Don't you think we should go to the police for something like this?" Tito asked.

"We have no solid evidence that they did this, Tito. The board, while definitely something that would get their attention, doesn't say that the Rippers exist. Even with Otto's testimony, that isn't enough to warrant arrests for people we don't even know."

"But, wait, Otto, didn't you say that Lars was one of the Ripper dudes?" Twister asked.

"Yeah, I did." Otto replied.

"Well, since we know Lars is one of them, maybe he knows where we can find the rest of these guys, and then we can turn them over to the police."

Not expecting Twister to come up with such a good idea to catch the Rippers, the entire group looked to the maker of the unexpected suggestion in surprise. Twister, not realizing how big of an event his revelation was, looked to the dumbfounded group in confusion.

"...What?" Twister asked.

"No offense, Twister, but since when do _you_ come up with good ideas?" Otto asked.

"I don't know, it just sort of came to me."

"Well, as the ancient Hawaiians used to say; 'Even a rotten coconut still has enough juice to fill a man's belly'." Tito said.

As none of the group could ever understand Tito's cryptic metaphors, everyone was left scratching their heads trying to dischipher the Hawaiian proverb. Disappointed that his advice again went misunderstood, Tito shook his head in annoyance.

"Well, anyway, Twister's right. Some of us should go look for Lars and try to get him to tell us who the Rippers are." Sam said.

"Otto and I can handle that. We know Ocean Shores like the back of our hands, there's no way Lars can hide from us." Twister said.

"Tito, maybe you should get Reg in on this too. We could put a 'wanted' ad or something like that in her 'zine to find Lars." Otto said.

"Hold on, little cuz, I don't think that would be a real good idea." Tito replied.

"Why not? Wouldn't keeping more eyes out for him help?"

"It'd also mean dragging someone else into this, someone who could get themselves hurt, and bring unnecessary attention towards us when we want to stay hidden from them."

"...You're right, Tito. Better keep Reggie out of this. Good thinking."

"Anytime, little cuz."

"But where would we start to look for Lars? Since you saw him, he might be hiding out somewhere that we can't find him." Sam said.

"Well, if I know Lars, and I do, the man's probably off skating somewhere. He lives for skating. The best thing we can do is probably go and check the local skate parks, open and closed, and see if he's hanging around there." Otto said.

"But, wait, didn't you say his arm got torn off?" Twister asked.

"Yeah, so?"

"So, wouldn't he be in the hospital? Why would he skate if he's seriously injured?"

"I've had broken bones, but that never stopped me from skating, right?"

"Well... I guess not, but I still think we should check the hospitals."

"Okay, how about you check the hospitals and I check the skate parks? We can cover more ground that way."

"Sounds good to me."

Racing down Ocean Shores to begin their manhunt of the one-armed fugitive Lars Rodriguez, Otto and Twister began their search, riding down the streets atop their skateboards.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the abode of Ray Rocket, as the morning sun began to rise, the Earth beginning its next rotation around the massive star that held the planet tightly in its gravitational pull, Noelani had risen from her sleep as well. Heading into the kitchen, Noelani began to prepare breakfast for herself and her husband, retrieving a pan from the cupboard, and cooking eggs and bacon in the pan.

As Noelani began to cook breakfast, she had found that Ray was already wide awake this early morning. However, despite Noelani having much energy in the morning that began, Ray had little to no energy, as he melancholily walked in and sulked at the table.

"Good morning, honey. Sleep well?" Noelani asked.

"Huh? What? Oh, yeah. Slept just fine." Ray replied.

"Sure doesn't look like it. Are you sure?"

Ray gave a nod, not wanting to use any energy on speech.

"You're not still upset about last night, are you?" Noelani asked.

Ray found himself slow to reply, but finally brought himself to answer his wife's question.

"Yeah... I guess I am." Ray said.

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself. You tried your best to patch things up." Noelani replied.

"'Tried my best'? I shouted at my own son, calling him a loser. What kind of a father do I have to be to do that?"

"One who... means well. Maybe you could use a little work on saying what you mean, but it's nothing we can't handle."

"Even saying the right thing doesn't always help. You remember what it was like raising Otto, the kid just doesn't listen to anyone. All he cares about is being the best at sports, even if it means shirking his responsibilities or endangering himself."

"Boys at that age often are. If you hold on to someone too tight, they'll often just push themselves further away. Sometimes you just need to let something go for a while before it comes back. Right now, maybe Otto just needs some time to himself."

"Even so, I just want him to do something better with his life than living like a bum. For years, I was flipping burgers so my kids could do good in school and live successfully on their own. Sure, cooking is my passion, but it doesn't mean anything in comparison to raising my kids. Reggie did pretty well for herself, but Otto... I just want him to be the best he can be."

"He will, Ray, in time."

As the two took a moment to reflect on their conversation, a ring on the doorbell was heard, taking their minds of the discussion and towards the door.

"You relax, honey, I'll go get it." Noelani said.

Noelani temporarily left Ray at the table and answered the door, finding Reggie at the other end. Not expecting Reggie to appear, Noelani was suprised, but still pleased to see Reggie again.

"Reggie! Back so soon, sweetie?" Noelani asked.

"Yeah, I guess. I just wanted to see if you and Dad were doing alright after last night didn't go so well." Reggie said.

"Oh, well... Ray's still not feeling too happy about it."

Not pleased to hear the bad news, Reggie gave an unhappy look, looking towards the ground to avoid facing Noelani with her scowl.

"Damn you, Otto." Reggie said to herself.

"Now, don't worry about all that. I'm having a talk with Ray about it now. Things should go over fine in just a little bit." Noelani said.

"Things aren't going to go over fine. Otto's not even been trying to fix this family one bit since he moved out. I don't know whether or not you've noticed, but this is not healthy for any of us, especially not Raymundo. Well, I'm sick of this."

Making plans to bring functionality back to her family, Reggie proceeded to walk away.

"Wait, Reggie! Where are you going?" Noelani called.

"I'm going to drag Otto's ungrateful little butt over here, and he's going to sit down at the table with Ray again until the two are on good terms again, even if it kills me doing so." Reggie replied.

"Wait! We just need to give him time!"

"He's had plenty of time. I'm fixing this now."

Despite Noelani's pleas to keep her from furthering the affair between the two, Reggie continued to collect Otto and bring him back. Noelani, disappointed at her pleas going unheard, sighed as she closed the door, walking back to the kitchen to accompany Ray.

"Who was that, honey?" Ray asked.

Not wanting to place any more stress on Ray, Noelani lied about the true identity of the visitor to keep him home.

"No one, honey. Just a door-to-door salesman." Noelani lied.

"Door-to-door salesman? Haven't seen those around Ocean Shores since most people moved out, kinda weird that-" Ray began to say.

Before he could finish his sentence, Ray sniffed the air, his senses catching something in the house that did not seem normal.

"Is something burning?" Ray asked.

Remembering the breakfast that she had neglected during her conversation, Noelani turned her attention towards the stove where the breakfast she had begun cooking was. To her shock and horror, the bacon and eggs, having been on the heated pan for far too long, began to set fire; the flame reaching a good 2 feet tall.

" _Oh, shit!_ " The two said.

Thinking quickly but not clearly, Noelani rushed to the pan, placing it in the sink, and turned on the faucet, aiming to extinguish the flames with water. Not knowing the result of mixing water with a grease fire, Noelani screamed as a huge burst of flame shot out of the pan, the flame nearly burning her dress.

As Noelani ran away from the flame, Ray quickly rushed toward the flame, ready to extinguish the flame correctly. Acting quickly, Ray turned the sink off and covered the pan with a lid, extinguishing the flame and ending the emergency.

With the danger of the grease fire gone, the two let out a sigh of relief, taking a moment to catch their breath. After the two had calmed themselves down enough, Ray decided to break the awkward silence.

"Maybe I should just make breakfast instead." Ray said.

"Good plan." Noelani replied.

* * *

At an abandoned warehouse just on the outskirts of Ocean Shores, the newest member of the Rippers, a man known as Lars Rodriguez, awoke uneasily as the morning sun arose. Laying in his bed, the stinging pain of his lost arm finally having subsided, his vision came back to him and came back into focus. Upon opening his eyes, the first thing within his sight was the leader of the Rippers, still in his high-tech guise.

"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey, jackass." The leader said.

After giving a groan that let out both fatigue and annoyance, Lars sat on the edge of the bed, facing the leader of the Rippers with a rather displeased attitude.

"What the hell's with this treatment, man? I get my arm ripped off, and the first thing I hear when I wake up is: 'Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey, jackass'? And you don't even bring me breakfast?" Lars asked.

"Quit your whining for a second and listen."

"Hell, no, man, you listen! I lost my goddamn arm because of you! And now the Rocket Dork's gonna probably snitch on me to the cops because he saw my face! I never should have joined your stupid gang!"

"'Rocket Dork'? So you know this guy personally?"

"Of course I do! His name's Otto Rocket. He's the biggest douchebag in this whole town."

"Coming from you, I have a feeling that means _second_ biggest."

"Shut up, man! Anyways, he was always ranting on about how much better he was at sports than any of us, running this stupid NewTube channel called 'Team Rocket Sports' or something like that. I used to beat his ass just for fun."

"Hold on, did you say 'Team Rocket Sports' on NewTube?"

"Oh, man, don't tell me you actually heard of these dorks?"

"I have. I'm always looking for extreme sports enthusiasts to bring to the team. I had my eye on this one since I got here. The guy's really good."

"So let me guess, you don't want me to kill him?"

"No. I'm going to see about this one myself. If he's half as good as he looks, he could speed the plan along much faster than I thought."

"...You seriously want this punk to join us?! AFTER HE SEVERED MY GODDAMN ARM?!"

"Will you shut up about the arm? I'll fix it."

"...How... the hell... do you fix... _A MISSING ARM?! DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GONNA JUST GIVE ME A NEW ONE?!_ "

"Why, yes, I will."

"...What?"

The leader snapped his fingers, prompting two Rippers to wheel a small work table to them. On the table was a large object covered with a work cloth, unseen to Lars. The leader, more than eager to reveal the strange object, got up and walked to the table.

"Mr. Rodriguez, I give you..." The leader began to say.

The leader pulled off the cloth, revealing the strange object to Lars Rodriguez. The object was an advanced robotic arm, unlike anything ever seen in prosthetics before. Lars, the robotic arm catching his interest, got out of his bed to inspect it further.

"...the D-248 Bushwacker by Membrane Laboratories. This bad boy comes with a machine gun, flamethrower, a grenade launcher, hookshot, and chainsaw, everything a growing boy needs. Go ahead and try it on." The leader finished.

More than eager to obtain a new arm, Lars immediately stuck his remaining arm stump into the Bushwacker. As the arm registered Lars' arm being inserted, the arm began to connect itself to him, drilling into his skin and bones and connecting wiring into his nerves. The connection process, sounding as brutal as it looked, was extremely painful and agonizing, causing Lars to scream and wince as the arm continued its course.

"AHH! THIS HURTS LIKE A SON OF A BITCH! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Lars screamed.

"It's connecting itself to your nervous system so you can control it like your old arm. Give it a minute." The leader replied.

After the arm finally finished connecting itself to its new user, the drilling and the pain finally stopped. Once fully connected to its new user, the arm began to distribute painkillers into Lars' blood stream, chemically bringing him relief to the painful process of connecting to him.

Upon feeling the release of the painkillers lightening the stress load on his mind, Lars breathed a sigh of relief, happy that the pain was finally over. Now fully ready to try out his new appendage, Lars lifted his new arm up, moving it around as if it was his old one, feeling no difference from before.

"I take it you like it?" The leader asked.

Lars, making a vulgar motion of moving his hand up and down, began to feel extremely more satisfied with his new arm, getting an idea to try with it later.

"Oh, yeah. I like it." Lars said.

"Well, then, you're going to love this. Follow me." The leader said.

The leader led Lars to an assortment of firing dummies, as if introducing a child to a playground. Lars, immediately catching on, extended his arm to the dummies, ready to fire upon the targets.

"How do I change the hand to a gun?" Lars asked.

"Just think it and it'll come up. Try saying what you want aloud until you get the hang of it." The leader said.

Choosing one dummy out of the group, Lars pointed his hand at it carefully and concentrated hard.

"Machine gun." Lars thought aloud.

Obeying his mental commands, a machine gun barrel came out of the side of his arm, showing that his thoughts worked. With a mental command akin to flicking his finger, the machine gun fired several rounds per second with deadly accuracy into the dummy, reducing it to a pile of demolished wood in seconds.

Lars, more than satisfied with his new weapon, immediately moved on to the next weapon added to his arsenal.

"Flamethrower." Lars said.

At his command, the machine gun retracted, a small flamethrower unit appearing in its place. With another mental command, Lars unleashed a huge burst of fire at a larger group of dummies, engulfing them in a huge wall of flames, incinerating them within seconds.

"Grenade launcher." Lars said.

Following his commands, the flamethrower retracted and a small tube came out underneath the arm. With another mental command, Lars fired a grenade straight at another dummy, completely obliterating it in a huge explosion upon contact.

"Hookshot." Lars said.

With his mental command given, the grenade tube retracted, a smaller tube appearing in its place. With his next mental command, a hookshot fired from beside the tube, latching into the one remaining dummy.

"Chainsaw." Lars said.

After giving his mental command, a chainsaw blade came out of the top of his arm, revving loudly. With the hookshot still attached into the last dummy, Lars yanked the dummy towards him. As the dummy began to approach the cybernetically enhanced Lars, he sliced it in half with a simple swing of his chainsaw.

After having tested all of his weapons, Lars retracted the hookshot and chainsaw, reverting his arm to its normal state. This demonstration left an impression on the leader, leading him to clap at Lars' performance.

"Still upset about your arm?" The leader asked.

"My old arm? Man, if I knew you had this thing, I'd have cut off my old arm myself." Lars replied.

The leader, amused by Lars' obnoxiousness and lack of subtlety, gave a slight chuckle at his reply.

"Now, about Otto Rocket..." The leader began to say.

"Yeah, yeah, you wanna invite him on. No problem. Maybe I'll even thank him for helping me get this cool arm." Lars said.

"Good boy. Now, this one I want to talk to myself. So, while me and the boys are gone, you stay here and lay low. You should have plenty to play with having that new arm."

"Oh, hell, yeah. I wonder if when I jerk off, it'll feel like a stranger?"

"Well... I suppose you'll have to find that out when I'm not present to view that. For now, you just do whatever you want to do, so long as you do it here and don't leave."

"No problem, man. You got NetFilms here?"


	7. Chapter 6: Making New Friends

**CHAPTER 6: MAKING NEW FRIENDS**

As the day continues on in Ocean Shores, both Otto and Twister continue their manhunt for Lars Rodriguez, hoping to find more about the mysterious group of super-criminals that destroyed Sam's Electronics Store. With the two splitting their search to cover more ground, Otto agreed to check all remaining skate parks in Ocean Shores, where Twister opted to check the hospitals for Lars, as he was missing an arm.

However, as dedicated as Twister was in his search, he found himself not having much luck. Within Ocean Shores General Hospital, Twister checked at the front counter for his brother.

"Hey, excuse me, have you guys had somebody with only one arm come in here?" Twister asked.

"With one arm, sir?" The front desk worker asked.

"Yeah, he, like, lost an arm, and he might have come in here."

"And who is this person to you, sir?"

"He's my brother. A big jerk, but, he's my brother."

"His name, sir?"

"Lars Rodriguez."

"And yours, sir?"

"Twister."

"...Your name is 'Twister'?"

"Yeah. Well, it's my nickname."

"And your real name, sir?"

"It's... Uh... Maurice."

"I see. Give me a moment."

The desk worker looked through the recently admitted patients to the hospital, seeking to find any matches to Twister's description. However, after a few minutes of searching, no matches were found in the hospital records.

"I'm sorry, sir, but it appears your brother has not been admitted here. No matches came up under the name you provided or description of injury." The front desk worker said.

"Are you sure? Did you see if anyone with that description came as a John Don?" Twister asked.

"...'John Don', sir?"

"Yeah, you know, like in those cop shows where somebody doesn't have a name, they call them 'John Don'."

"Sir, I believe you're thinking of 'John _Doe_ ', and, no, I have no matches of that injury either."

"Oh. Well, thanks anyway."

As Twister found himself out of luck at this particular hospital, Twister left the building, skating off to search other hospitals in Ocean Shores.

* * *

At Ocean Shores Health Care, after a long series of similar questions...

"I'm sorry, sir, I don't have anyone here under that description." The front desk worker said.

"Aw. Thanks anyway." Twister said.

* * *

At Ocean Shores Health Services...

"Nope, no 'Lars Rodriguez' or anyone absent an arm. Sorry, son." The front desk worker said.

"Crap. Thanks anyway." Twister said.

* * *

At Ocean Shores Pharmacy...

"Uh, this is a pharmacy, not a hospital. We don't do that stuff here." The clerk said.

"Damn it." Twister said.

"Anything else I can do for you?"

"Uh... Yeah, gimmie a bag of FunYums and some Cheeze-O's."

After Twister walked out of the pharmacy with his bags of highly processed snacks, munching down on the contents, he began to grow frustrated with his efforts producing little to no fruit.

"That's all the hospitals in the area, and nobody's got him. I wonder how Otto's doing?" Twister thought aloud.

* * *

At the monopolizing skate park of Zero Gravity Zone, one of the remaining commercial skate parks remaining in Ocean Shores, Otto Rocket finally arrived at the front entrance. Holding his skateboard under his arm, Otto stepped inside the building, ready to begin his search for Lars Rodriguez.

Upon stepping inside the building, Otto was immediately greeted with the sights of multiple skating courses, all ranging from themes like science fiction to fantasy, ancient times to modern, it was all too good for Otto to simply look upon. However, as much as he wanted to do nothing more than skate, he remembered his mission, preparing to search for Lars Rodriguez.

Heading to the entrance to the park, Otto walked to the nearest security guard and displayed his pass, a well-made investment for the skating enthusiast he was.

"Here's my pass, dude." Otto said.

The security guard took a look at Otto's pass, ensuring it was genuine and in-date. As it passed both requirements, the security guard stepped aside, allowing Otto inside Zero Gravity Zone.

"Okay, have fun." The security guard said.

Otto stepped inside the park, making his way down to begin inquiring about Lars Rodriguez. Heading his way to the locker rooms, Otto began his investigation.

Heading to a young man putting his protective gear on, Otto asked the young man about his target.

"Hey, excuse me, you seen a guy named Lars Rodriguez? Should only have one arm?" Otto asked.

"Nope, sorry, dude." The young man said.

With no information found with the young man, Otto continued his inquiry around Zero Gravity Zone. Heading to another individual, a man older than Otto's last subject, but still young, Otto asked him the same question.

"Hey, dude, you see a guy with only one arm named Lars Rodriguez?" Otto asked.

"Say what?" The man asked.

"You seen a guy named Lars Rodriguez? He's only got one arm, he's not hard to miss."

"No, sorry, man."

"Crap. Thanks anyway."

After continuing to search around Zero Gravity Zone for a while, Otto decided to take a small break from his search by skating. Selecting a simple pit, one not specially themed like the other courses.

While riding down the course for a good few minutes, trying to vent out his frustrations of lack of progress on his search, Otto found himself riding next to another skater, one that rode his board in a much more aggressive manner than him.

With the two riders growing more and more tense in their perpendicular paths beginning to cross dangerously very suddenly, Otto finally met with the inevitable; accidentally running into the other skater, knocking the both of them to the ground.

"Hey, watch where the hell you're going!" The skater said.

"Whoops, sorry, dude. My bad." Otto said.

After skating for a short while longer to blow off more steam, Otto finally decided to end his skating session and prepare to ask around more. Stepping inside the locker room, Otto prepared to take off his elbow and knee guards, not needing them to walk about the park.

However, as he prepared to walk about the park, 4 other skaters began to surround Otto, all acting aggressive towards him. One skater, making their presence known, knocked Otto's skateboard off of his lap, looking down at him with a sinister smile.

"This the asshole who ran into you?" One skater asked.

"Yep. That's him." Another skater replied.

Otto, realizing that he was in a fit of trouble with this group, tried his best to placate the angry skaters.

"Uh, look, guys, I already said I was sorry. Do you want me to leave or something?" Otto asked.

"Nope." One skater said.

"Not just yet." Another skater said.

"First, we wanna bust your ass." A different skater said.

"Oh, really? Okay." Otto said.

Acting quickly, Otto punched the skater in front of him in the stomach, temporarily stunning him. With the first skater out of his way, Otto threw a kick to the skater to his left to his head, knocking him away. The two skaters behind him, not wanting him to win the fight, grabbed him from behind, leaving him open to the two skaters in front.

Otto, held tightly by the two skaters behind him, was left open to attack by the two skaters in front, after they had overcome the attack Otto had laid into them. While restrained by the two skaters holding him back, the two other skaters in the posse laid in a series of harsh punches into Otto, nearly knocking all breath out of his body.

As the punishment continued on for several minutes, the beating finally came to an end as two other individuals took the two punching skaters and threw them aside, temporarily ending the barrage of beatings laid into Otto Rocket.

"Let him go." One of the new individuals said.

"Or what, little man?" One restraining skater asked.

"I mean it, you don't wanna do this."

"I mean it, I _do_ wanna do this!"

One of the skaters restraining Otto released his grip, pushing Otto onto the two new individuals, preparing to attack the newcomers. One of the two individuals, appearing more experienced in brawls, ducked from the attacking skater, landing a stunning punch to his stomach, knocking him to the ground.

The skater holding Otto, not having any backup, was quickly thrown to the ground by Otto himself, having more than enough strength to bring the grappler down. With the grabbing skater on the ground, Otto began pummeling the skater in his face, delivering more than enough punishment to the unsolicited attack that he had endured.

The last two skaters, having been thrown aside, got themselves up and prepared to retaliate on the new individuals that came to Otto's rescue. Before they could approach anyone in the group, two more individuals came and quickly dispatched the remaining skaters, throwing the two to the ground and laying in numerous kicks, incapacitating the attacking skaters.

With the posse of rogue skaters subdued and no longer attacking Otto, the group of four new individuals came to Otto's aide, helping him off the ground.

"You okay?" The leader of the group asked.

"Yeah, dude, I'm fine. Thanks." Otto said.

As Otto gave his thanks to the group of saving skaters, a group of security guards came in, having heard the commotion of the fight outside.

"What the hell happened in here?" One security guard asked.

"These jerks came in and attacked my friend here. We broke them down for you, so they should be good to take away." The leader said.

"Well, good on you for lending a helping hand, we'll take it from here."

As the security guards turned their attention to the subdued attackers, preparing to throw the group out of Zero Gravity Zone, the leader turned his attention back to Otto, raising his hand to him.

"Name's Dax Jett." He said.

Otto took Dax's hand and shook it, extending his thanks for the intervention that saved him a severe beating.

"Otto Rocket. Thanks for saving my ass." Otto said.

"Don't mention it. Me and the boys saw how you were skating, came to ask you if you were interested in joining us, and then these pricks showed up." Dax said.

"You know them?"

"I see them around. Enough to know that they're just a bunch of jackasses that do nothing but hog up the park to themselves."

"So, what, are they like some gang?"

"More like a skating team. Just not a very good one. They make 5 year olds look like the Z-Boys."

"Damn. That's saying something."

"Yeah."

"Now, did I hear something about you wanting to see if I was interested in joining you guys?"

"Why, yes, you did. Allow me to introduce my team. My teammates are Jared, Mike, and Wes. We make up the Prodigy Skateboarding Team. How about you?"

"Well, I run Team Rocket Sports on NewTube, but it's only me and my bud Twister. We have one other guy, but he's not really into skating anymore."

"Team Rocket Sports, huh? How about we talk a little more over a half-pipe?"

"Now you're speaking my language, dude."

* * *

Back at Otto and Twister's house, with the two owners of the home absent, Sam and Tito remained in the house, both awaiting their arrival with Tito attempting to clean the house to reasonable living standards and Sam continuing his analysis on the hoverboard. With Otto and Twister busy on their manhunt for Lars Rodriguez, the two were not expecting any company.

However, at this time of day, their expectations were soon subverted. Reggie Rocket, determined to bring Otto back with her, marched to the door, pounding on the door with extreme determination.

After a few minutes of waiting, Tito finally came to answer the door, surprised at the unexpected visit of Reggie Rocket.

"Reggie! What brings you here, little cuz?" Tito asked.

"Tito? I could ask you the same thing, being at Otto's house." Reggie replied.

"Uh... I came to smoke with them, remember?"

"Oh, right. Well, is Otto here? I need to talk to him."

"About what?"

"You know what about. Last night. I came to get Otto to come back to Dad's house and have a more civilized discussion with him."

"Well, you got very noble reasons, little cuz, but they're not here right now. Maybe you should just come back later."

"I'm not leaving without bringing him with me. I'm going to wait right here inside for him until he gets back."

Reggie proceeded to walk in the house, wanting to patiently wait inside for Otto to arrive back. Trying to spare her from the sensory-assaulting smells of the house, Tito tried to close the door before she could do so.

"Whoa, Reggie, you might not wanna come in here right now, it's pretty messy for company." Tito said.

"I've seen Otto's room when we were kids, it can't be any worse than that, stop kidding around and let me in." Reggie replied.

Exerting more energy to step inside, Reggie pushed on the door further. Tito, still trying to prevent Reggie from taking in the repulsive smells of the inside, tried to close the door more forcefully.

"Little cuz, now is _really_ not a good time. I really think you should just come back another time." Tito said.

"Tito, knock it off! Let me in!" Reggie said.

"I can't do that, little cuz, it's really not suitable for others right now!"

"Open the door!"

"No!"

"OPEN THIS DOOR!"

Reggie's last words were followed with a forceful opening of the door, stumbling to catch her balance again as she made it inside. However, as she made her way inside the house, she immediately began to regret her decision.

As she entered, her senses were immediately assaulted with the pungent odors of many unspeakable horrors of neglectful housekeeping, causing her eyes to immediately water, and her nose began to crunch and wrinkle from the disgusting smells. Reggie, in a desperate attempt to retain her sanity, immediately had to cover her nose to guard herself from the horrible stench.

"Holy mother of god! It smells like death in here! What the hell is wrong with those two?! Oh, god, I think I'm gonna..." Reggie began to say.

Reggie's last words were followed by an immediate gag and the feeling of partially-digested food to make its way back up her throat, prompting her to rush to the bathroom to vomit.

Upon making it to the bathroom, she found that the toilet was even worse than the entirety of the house; only adding to the disgust brought to her and making her barely able to hold onto herself long enough to prolong the inevitable regurgitation that was to come.

Being even more disgusted by the toilet, Reggie immediately ran back outside, pushing Tito out of her way. Upon making it to the green grass outside, Reggie finally released her inhibitions, allowing herself to vomit to purge her feeling of disgust out and finally catch her sanity again. After finishing her regurgitation and taking in fresh air, Reggie finally managed to string together complete sentences.

" _So... Nasty... Needs... Bleach..._ " Reggie struggled to say.

"Well, don't say I didn't warn you, little cuz." Tito said.

"There's no way I can tolerate another second in that hellhole. Please tell me there's a _tolerable_ portion of that house."

"Yeah, there's the garage."

Upon remembering that Sam was inside the garage, continuing his analysis of the hoverboard, Tito immediately tried to retract his offer and persuade Reggie from entering inside the house.

"I mean, no, don't-!" Tito tried to say.

Before Tito could correct his mistake, Reggie immediately headed for the garage, much to Tito's dismay and embarrassment. When Reggie opened the garage door, her first sight was Sam standing on the hoverboard, tweaking at the controls. Reggie, never having seen anything like the technology sitting underneath Sam's feet, stared at the hoverboard in shock.

Sam, being far too preoccupied to realize anything in his surroundings, took at least a full minute before he realized that Reggie was staring right at him and the impossible sight under his feet. Upon realizing the situation he was in, Sam instantly froze in nervousness, not knowing what to do.

"Uh... Hi, Reggie... It's, uh... been awhile..." Sam said.

"Sammy... WHAT IS THAT?!" Reggie yelled.

Reggie's sudden reaction to the hoverboard caused Sam to stumble and fall on the ground, making the board slide toward Reggie's face. Tito, acting quickly, managed to catch it before it could hit her.

"That, little cuz, is what I was trying to keep you from. Otto managed to get in big trouble." Tito said.

"That definitely sounds like Otto, but how the hell did you get _that_ thing? It's... some kind of... hovering skateboard?" Reggie asked.

After getting himself off the ground, Sam replied to Reggie's question.

"After your fight from last night, Otto decided to walk off on his own and he encountered a bunch of high-tech criminals that robbed my store. He managed to steal one of their boards and identify one of them as Lars Rodriguez, our old friend." Sam said.

"Lars? Part of a super-high-tech criminal group? Here in Ocean Shores? A _huge_ story waiting to be written? How come you didn't tell me?!" Reggie asked.

"We didn't tell you because we knew that you would want to bring it to your 'zine right away. We're trying to lay low, we don't want these people knowing that we're coming after them right away. We want the upper hand while we have it."

"But a criminal organization in Ocean Shores?! That _needs_ to be brought to attention in this town."

"For what? So people can panic out in the streets? I sincerely doubt that we'd be making a positive difference that way."

"Well, I just suppose you'll have to just wait and see for yourself."

Acting on her reporter instincts, Reggie pulled out her smartphone and began snapping several photographs of the board, much to Sam and Tito's disapproval.

"Reggie! Didn't you hear a word I just said?" Sam asked.

"I heard you, Sammy, but I also hear a Pulitzer Prize calling my name." Reggie replied.

"Reggie, you'll seriously hurt our chances to get these guys, not to mention you could get yourself hurt, and I don't want you to get hurt."

"Well, I appreciate your concern, but I'm quite capable of handling myself."

After discovering the newfound technology and getting the story from Sam, Reggie proceeded to walk away with her pictures and new information, ready to bring it to her magazine.

"Hey, little cuz, what happened to 'I'm not leaving without bringing him with me'?" Tito asked.

Upon remembering the purpose of her visit, Reggie stopped and thought for a moment, contemplating on her choices.

"Well... He's not here anyway. I can come back. This is too big to just sit on." Reggie said.

Not wanting Reggie to endanger herself nor her to endanger the lot of them, Sam ran after Reggie, hoping to persuade her not to publish the story.

"Reggie, no! I've planned out a way to stop these guys very carefully. This, like I said, is not only just an unnessecary risk towards yourself and us, but it could seriously compromise the plan and we may never have a chance to go after these guys again. Please promise me you won't actually do it." Sam said.

Upon hearing out Sam's argument and plea, Reggie pondered over his words, carefully contemplating her next move.

"...Okay. You're right. I won't do it." Reggie replied.

Unbeknownst to Sam, Reggie had her fingers crossed behind her back, rendering her promise null and void.

"Okay, thank you. Now, if you want to help us take these guys down, you're more than welcome to stay here and help us out." Sam said.

"Be back for that in a moment, I gotta handle something else." Reggie said.

"What? Wait, you're not seriously just going to- after you-?"

"No. Otto's house is the most disgusting sight I have ever seen in my life and I need to get several bottles of bleach and odor killer before I set foot back in that house again."

"Oh, come on. It's not _that_ dirty."

Reggie gave Sam a disappointed look, leading Sam to retract his statement.

"...Okay, it _is_ that dirty, but you get used to it, trust me." Sam said.

"Maybe you can, but I can't. I'll be right back." Reggie said.

Lying about keeping her promise, Reggie got into her car and proceeded to drive to the offices of Ocean Shores Today to print her newfound story, in hopes of obtaining fame and fortune for her newfound story.

* * *

On the other side of Ocean Shores, after hours of searching for Lars Rodriguez, neither Otto nor Twister had any luck finding their intended target. Waiting at the rendezvous point at Madtown, Twister patiently awaited Otto to come back with news of his search. While waiting for Otto, Twister continued to chow down on his numerous snacks purchased at Ocean Shores Pharmacy, finding snacks where he was searching for his delinquent brother.

"Man, I thought for sure that pharmacies were supposed to be like hospitals, but I guess they're just like regular grocery stores. They had plenty of good snacks, though." Twister thought aloud.

While in the middle of enjoying his snacks and realizing the actual purpose of a pharmacy, Otto arrived at Madtown with a group of new skaters, much to Twister's surprise.

"Uh, Otto, who are these guys?" Twister asked.

"Twister, I want you to meet some guys that saved me from these psychos that tried to jump me at Zero Gravity Zone. This guy's Dax, he leads the Prodigy Skateboarding Team." Otto said.

"Hi, there. I assume you're Twister?" Dax asked.

"Yeah, dude, uh, nice to meet you. Otto, I thought you were gonna ask around about Lars, what's going on here?" Twister asked.

"I didn't forget about Lars, I thought these guys may be able to help us. They said they'd ask around and stuff, but they also offered us on their team." Otto said.

"Well, that all depends on a few things." Dax said.

"What things?" Twister asked.

"I run Prodigy Skateboarding Team. Otto here tells me you guys run a NewTube channel. We happen to have somewhat of a sponsorship from Zero Gravity Zone, but we don't have anyone good with cameras. He showed us some of your footage, and we liked what we saw. Otto here was more than eager to join us, and, as vocal as he was for you, we wanted to hear your approval."

"Uh... Can you give me and Otto a minute to ourselves?"

"But of course. Go right ahead."

Twister took Otto aside, wanting to speak to him privately about the sudden new affair.

"Otto, did you completely lose sight of what we're doing here?" Twister asked.

"What are you talking about, man? Weren't you the one always complaining about how we aren't getting enough attention on NewTube and not getting any money? Well, these guys have a sponsorship with ZGZ, and they can give us some attention on NewTube. This is a problem solved." Otto said.

"Yeah, but we're supposed to be looking for Lars. Did you forget about that?"

"No, dude, this is just a better way to do it. With some more popularity with these guys, we can build a better network. Think of all the places we could get paid to go, and we can keep looking around until we find Lars."

Twister began thinking over Otto's suggestion for a moment, contemplating on whether his idea was truly the best approach. After giving his idea some contemplation, Twister finally reluctantly agreed to Otto's plan.

"Okay, man, but only because we're still looking for Lars. The money's a good help, but the focus is still Lars." Twister said.

"You got it." Otto said.

With the two finally coming to an agreement, Otto and Twister approached Dax and the Prodigy Team, ready to agree to the offer.

"Okay, dude, I'm in." Twister said.

"Awesome. Now, if Otto tells me correctly, this place here is one of your hangouts, and the place where you film most of your stunts. How about the 6 of us all step inside and talk business over a half-pipe?" Dax asked.

"Sounds good to me." Otto said.

"Yeah, I guess that sounds cool." Twister said.

After crawling under the fencing of the abandoned Madtown, the 6 newly acquainted skaters began riding on the park's half-pipe, the Prodigy beginning to build a bond with their new members. Where Otto was more than getting along with the team, however, Twister found some skepticism with the group. Whether it be Otto's unusual approach to the sudden situation or the idea of being on a team of complete strangers, something was definitely afoot.

Of course, if Twister was described as such, he'd probably say; ' _What? There's nothing wrong with my feet_.'


	8. Chapter 7: How To Lose Your Job

**CHAPTER 7: HOW TO LOSE YOUR JOB**

As the afternoon began to come to the day, Reggie Rocket made her way to her job, the offices of _Ocean Shores Today_. Stepping out of her car, Reggie began to make her way inside, walking straight for the editor's office. Despite being several hours late for work, having a simple visit to her parents' house turn into a larger ordeal, Reggie was more than certain that what she had for her boss would be more than enough to compensate for her absence.

As she began to make her way to the office of Mr. Wilson, the editor-in-chief of _Ocean Shores Today_ , Matt took notice of her, having been looking for her the entire day. Finally having seen her come in, Matt came up to her and stopped her, hoping to find out where she had been during her absence.

"Reggie! Sweetie, you've been gone for two hours, do you have any idea what Mr. Wilson is going to say?" Matt asked.

"Once he sees this, he's going to say: 'Wow, Reggie! Great work! How would you like to be promoted'? I've got a story here that'll blow your pants off." Reggie replied.

"A story good enough for that? What happened, did the mayor kill an A-list celebrity?"

"Better."

Matt gave Reggie an odd stare at her poorly-worded response.

"Uh, I mean bigger, a bigger story. Sorry, I should've worded that better. People dying is not good." Reggie rephrased.

"Well, for the sake of our pleasant conversations, I sincerely hope that it is." Matt replied.

"Trust me, it is. See you in a sec."

Having finally reached her destination, Reggie stepped inside Mr. Wilson's office, ready to share her story.

"Hey, Mr. Wilson. You got one second?" Reggie asked.

"I've got plenty of seconds, but not nearly enough to loan to you to pay off the 3 hours you've been late for. What happened?" Mr. Wilson replied.

"Sorry about being late, sir, but I found something that is _guaranteed_ to give us big sales."

"Oh, really? And what might that be?"

More than ready to make her presentation, Reggie pulled out her phone and showed the photos of the hoverboard that Otto stole, swiping through the multiple photographs taken.

"My brother and his friends found out there's this high-tech gang in town using these hovering skateboards, and they robbed an electronics store. Otto managed to steal this board from them and he identified one of the gang members as an old enemy of ours. According to what I've heard, these guys call themselves 'The Rippers' and there exists no record of them in any news source anywhere, meaning these guys have probably been around for some time and no one's found them yet but us. We put out this story, not only will it sell well, we could help put these guys behind bars." Reggie said.

Mr. Wilson, appearing very skeptical about the ordeal, looked back and forth at the photographs and Reggie several times. After taking several minutes to do so, Mr. Wilson finally replied.

"...Is this your idea of a joke, Ms. Rocket?" Mr. Wilson asked.

"...What?" Reggie asked.

" _Is. This. Your. Idea. Of. A. Joke?_ "

"No! You honestly think that this is a joke?"

"Well, let's recap: You show me footage and pictures of a board that allegedly hovers off the ground with footage and photos that could easily be faked even by a 12-year old with a laptop; even if this board really does what you say, it provides no evidence that it belongs to such a group that you claim; this entire story was obtained from your younger brother, who is a heavy marijuana user by _your own_ accounts of him; and you expect me to think that this is an actual story I should put out on my magazine?"

"But... I..."

"Ms. Rocket, we've just been purchased by one of the most wealthy men in the southern California area. What do you think will happen to our funding if I turn this magazine into some U.F.O. chasing tabloid? Do you think that we will honestly get as much sales as you claim, if any? I'd lose my job over this. I can't run this."

Mr. Wilson tossed Reggie's phone back towards her, leaving her stammering to say something to defend her story.

"Even on the very minuscule chance that this story is true, this is a _magazine_ , not a newspaper. The few people who read our magazine don't read it for news. They read it to see who the top surfer or top ska band in town is. We'd lose all our readers overnight with this." Mr. Wilson said.

With Mr. Wilson's long speech completely laying Reggie's story to waste, she still found herself without anything to say to defend her story.

"Get out of my office. You're fired." Mr. Wilson said.

"...Wha- WHAT?! Fired?! Why?!" Reggie yelled.

"Well, aside from all the other reasons I just listed, we have no real work to do around here as Ocean Shores has become a practical ghost town. Also, now Alex Gravity bought us out, you're no longer needed here."

With Mr. Wilson's blunt and unbelievable rejection of her employment completely flooring her emotionally, Reggie stood still with her jaw down, unable to believe what she was hearing.

"Get out. Now." Mr. Wilson said.

Out of complete anger, Reggie screamed, stomping her foot on the ground, venting most of her frustration before she stormed out of the building.

As Reggie began her march out of the building, clearing out her desk as she left, Matt tried to stop her and ask what was wrong.

"Reggie? What's wrong?" Matt asked.

Far too frustrated and hormonal to speak to her former colleague, Reggie brushed Matt off, giving him the indication that she did not achieve her desired result at impressing Mr. Wilson.

After Reggie was out of his line of sight, Mr. Wilson, finally alone again, picked up his phone and dialed an unlisted number, making certain that no one was around to observe him. When a few seconds passed, a distorted voice came up at the other end of the line.

" _Go ahead._ " The voice said.

"I suppose you know of some kid by the name of Rocket is on to you?" Mr. Wilson asked.

" _Otto Rocket. I'm aware. Dax is dealing with him now._ "

"Not the brother, the sister. He must've blabbed all about it to her. She has a full story ready."

" _Kill the story._ "

"I already have. I also fired her."

" _Good. How many more know?_ "

"She didn't say. I'm guessing at least two, maybe three. I assume you'll handle it like usual?"

" _Not that it's your place to know, but no. If we play our cards right, they won't be a problem._ "

"Anything else required on my part?"

" _Not at all. You've done well so far. Thank you for the update._ "

"Of course, I'm always at your disposal, Mr.-"

" _Ah-ah-ah. We don't say my name on landlines._ "

"Of course, my mistake, sir."

As the line disconnected, Mr. Wilson put his phone away and returned to his normal workload.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the abandoned Madtown, Dax, Otto, Twister, and the Prodigy Skateboarding Team's skateboarding session began to come to a close. After many tricks were pulled and many rails were ground, the afternoon began to come to a close, and, with it, much of the energy of the group. After numerous hours of fun and bonding, the group finally decided to end their session.

"I gotta say, you guys know how to ride. I think you and us are gonna get along just fine." Dax said.

"Yeah, man, you guys are pretty cool too. I could get used to being on a team." Otto said.

"Well, if you guys aren't too tired, we know a good place where there's a party going down later tonight."

"Where?"

"You ever been at the warehouse at 816 Klasky Street?"

"No, where's that?"

"It's downtown in the industrial area of Ocean Shores. Way out on the city limits. There's a party going down there."

"Courtesy of Zero Gravity Zone?"

"Well... Not exactly. You up for it?"

"Yeah, dude, we're there."

"Excellent. I'll be seeing you and Twister later."

"Cool. See ya later."

As Dax and the Prodigy Team began to make their own way home, Otto and Twister began making their own way back home. Despite the sense of accomplishment that Otto had gotten joining the Prodigy, Twister's skepticism still remained about him.

"Otto, you know this is still about finding Lars, right?" Twister asked.

"Yeah, dude, I haven't forgotten. What's the problem?" Otto asked.

"'What's my problem'? Well, you just joined a skateboarding team, put me on the team without asking me, and, now, you wanna go to a party with these guys."

"Yeah, so?"

"You never once thought to ask me if I was cool with any of this. I thought I was your best friend."

"You are, dude. What's with all this drama?"

"Well, this is all just a lot to take in right now. It's just weird."

"Don't sweat it, Twist. Look, after the party tonight, first thing tomorrow morning, we'll go straight back to finding Lars. Since we're friends with these guys now, we'll tell 'em the whole story and get them to help us. Sound good?"

"Well... Okay, I guess. Right now, I just wanna get home and get some food."

"Same here, but not in that order. Good Burger?"

"Hell, yeah."

"Race?"

"After you."

Accepting Otto's challenge for a race to the Good Burger, Twister and Otto began skating towards the fast-food restaurant, trying to make fun of a boring activity.

"Oh, I forgot, we need to pick up some food for Sam and Tito." Otto said.

"Those two eat more than both of us alone. Last one there buys?" Twister asked.

"You're on!"

* * *

Back at Otto and Twister's house, Sam continued his analysis of the hoverboard, continuing to find more and more intriguing concepts with each inspection. Far too caught up in his work to focus on anything else, he took no notice of the garage door opening behind him.

"Wow... This is unreal..." Sam muttered.

As the door opened, Reggie stormed in the garage, visibly furious and very unstable. Trying to vent her frustrations, Reggie took a toolbox and threw it to the wall, making a loud crashing noise and startling Sam from his focused attention to the board.

Needing to find a moment to herself, Reggie sat on a toolchest and sat in solitude, crossing her arms and breathing heavily.

"Reggie, you've been gone awhile, was the store out of bleach?" Sam asked.

"Shut up, Sam. Just leave me alone already!" Reggie snapped.

"Whoa, Reggie, what happened? Did someone give you a hard time?"

"Is it _that_ obvious?"

"Look, Reggie, if you don't talk to me, I'm not going to be able to help you out with... whatever it is that's bothering you."

"Fine. I couldn't help myself, went to the 'zine with the story, pitched it, and he fired me on the spot, accusing me of lying."

"What?! You sold us out?!"

"Don't make this about you, Sam! My whole career is over!"

"I told you _not_ to pitch it! I told you it could hurt us!"

"Oh, so now, _Sammy_ knows best, huh? You think you're some kind of genius?!"

"Don't make me the enemy here, I was just trying to help you! You weren't even supposed to be in on all of this!"

"Oh, right, never thought to let me in, as if I wouldn't be interested in joining in on your little secret. What happened to all of us being friends?!"

"All of us have barely spoken to each other for years, especially you! I wouldn't even think you were still in Ocean Shores if didn't talk to Otto!"

"Oh, so you _knew_ I was still around, but you never actually took the time to see me?! What kind of friend are you?!"

"What kind of friend am _I_?! Who are you to speak, selling us down the river and nearly jeopardizing our whole operation?!"

"And I lost my whole career! I was so close to having my big break, but it all just got pulled out from underneath me, and now I'm _still_ stuck here in this city! I'm stuck here in this dying city! I'm stuck here in this boring life! And right now, _I'M STUCK IN A ROTTING HOUSE THAT SMELLS LIKE A SKUNK'S ROTTEN ASSHOLE!_ "

As Reggie screamed the last of her rant, she got up and started kicking the toolchest she was sitting on, venting out all of her frustrations in one moment. After her tiring tantrum, Reggie finally fell to the floor, crying. With Reggie calmed down enough to approach again, Sam began to show more sympathy, trying to comfort her as she sat down on the floor.

"Oh, god, you're right, Sam. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have done that to you. I was so focused on getting out of this city that I forgot what it was like to even _have_ friends. I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Reggie said.

Sam immediately gave her a hug, trying to calm her down.

"It's okay. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said all that." Sam said.

"Neither should have I. I shouldn't have said anything at all." Reggie replied.

"Well, your last comment regarding the house's smell certainly needed saying."

Feeling slightly better with Sam's joke, Reggie began to laugh a little, with Sam laughing as well.

"See? Ocean Shores isn't that bad when you have a good friend around, isn't it?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, things do feel a little better already." Reggie said.

"Still, you never had _any_ friends? Not even at work?"

"No. I had a co-worker that I talked to now and then, but I never really did anything with him. We're not really friends."

"I'm sorry, Reggie. I should have called or something. I had no idea you needed some company that badly."

"It's fine. Besides, I probably needed a break from Otto and Twister, lonely or not. Still, hanging out with you again is a lot better. Being around you just... feels right to me."

As Reggie realized what she said, she had began to blush. Upon hearing Reggie's words, Sam gave a slight blush as well. Feeling slightly discomforted, the two began to turn away from each other in embarrassment.

"Uh, yeah, I've, uh, been... kind of... enjoying your... company... too..." Sam stuttered.

The two began to look at each other again, staring intensely at each other, and slowly leaning in closer to each other.

Slowly but surely, their two lips drew closer and closer together and reached out to touch each other in a loving embrace.

The two once separated friends and sport teammates slowly began to evolve their rekindled relationship into something new, the two reaching in for a kiss to start the fire anew.

Then, Tito bursted in the room, wearing a HAZMAT suit and a gas mask, and loudly announced himself. With his loud voice compensating for the gas mask muffling his voice and the ungodly smells that his suit was picking up, his appearance completely and utterly killed the mood between the two.

"Well, Reggie, after using a little elbow grease and a _whole_ lotta cleaner fluid, the whole house has been sanitized top to bottom. It's still not very clean, mind you, but it should be much more tolerable. I still wouldn't use the toilet, it looks like a rat got caught in a used condom, drowned in the bowl, and clogged it after someone tried to flush it down. I'll need a few more hours to get it working." Tito said.

Thanks, Tito, you cock blocker.

With the smell coming from Tito's HAZMAT suit and his vivid description of the house's state explained in great lengths, Sam and Reggie were now completely disgusted, completely turned off and no longer interested in continuing the moment. Not at all happy with Tito's actions, they expressed their annoyances in a sarcastic manner.

"Thank you for sharing that with us, Tito." Sam replied.

"Yeah, _real_ informative." Reggie added.

"So, uh... I'm not interrupting something, am I?" Tito asked.

"No, not at all, Sam was just showing me how this hoverboard works, right, Sammy?"

"Uh, right! Now, first, let's get off the floor and actually get to where the board is." Sam said.

As the two awkwardly got off the floor and stumbled to the board, Tito began to realize what was really going on, giving a sly smile behind his gas mask.

"Oh... Now I see. Well, sorry to bother you two lovebirds." Tito said.

Feeling embarrassed by Tito realizing the true nature of what the two were doing alone, Sam got extremely uncomfortable very quickly.

"What?! Lovebirds?! Are you nuts?! We're not- uh... I just... We..." Sam stuttered.

"Ancient Hawaiian saying: 'Those two in love cannot resist each other, just as the ocean waves cannot resist the beach'." Tito said.

"Tito, you got it all wrong, we were just-"

"Jeez, Sam, you _still_ act like a little kid sometimes." Reggie interrupted.

"Well, I must certainly say, you and Sam are the last two I expected to get together." Tito added.

"Well, I wouldn't go that far yet. We've only been friends again for a few minutes. I was just a little... emotional after what happened. Now, I seriously would like to see how this board works, so, think you could give me and Sam a moment?"

"Sure thing, little cuz, just don't make another stain for me to clean up."

Reggie laughed heavily at Tito's comment, while Sam turned bright red at the implications of his joke.

"I may be easy, Tito, but I'm not _that_ easy." Reggie said.

"I was talking about grease from the board or something. You kids these days _really_ got dirty minds." Tito said.

"Tito!"

"Alright, alright, I'd better unclog that toilet now. See you in five hours."

Tito finally left the garage, going back to work on his heavy task of cleaning the house.

"Okay, Sammy, now can you show me for real how the board works?" Reggie asked.

After a long streak of embarrassing moments, Sam took a moment to snap out of his embarrassment before answering.

"Uh... Right, let's get you started right here." Sam said.

Sam got up from the floor, heading to the workstation where the disassembled board laid. Gently moving it to the center of the table where Reggie could view it, Sam began to make his presentation of the board.

"The technology put into this board is unlike anything I've ever seen before. Not even the armed forces use this stuff. It's decades ahead of anything seen in the world today." Sam said.

"How can you tell this stuff is so advanced? No offense, but you manage a computer store. How do you know this stuff so well?" Reggie asked.

"I also managed to hack into the plans for Shaffika's concert when we were all kids, remember? Stuff like this just comes naturally to me."

"So what, you're like a Rain Man with tech stuff?"

"More or less. It just makes sense to me, kind of like physics just made sense to Einstein. I'm not quite as smart as he was, but I like to think I'm getting there."

Sam lifted a protective cover off of the board's circuitry, revealing a metal case with a radioactive symbol printed on it with a small crack emitting a yellow glow coming out of it, all enclosed inside a clear cover.

"Uh, Sammy... Is that what I think it is?" Reggie asked.

"Judging by the fact that your eyes are really wide right now, I assume you mean the power source. And yes, it _is_ nuclear." Sam replied.

"...This thing is _NUCLEAR_?! AND it has a huge crack in it?!"

"Relax, Reggie. Yes, the core is exposed, but it's protected by this glass cover, designed to provide radiation shielding."

"...So it won't blow us up or mutate us?"

"No, not with this cover on. Whoever their tech guy is must be pretty smart since he knew to plan for contingencies like this."

"How did that crack happen?"

"Must've happened when Otto crashed into the alley with Lars. Looks like this shield popped right up when the crash happened. Unfortunately, this also makes it hard to tell what kind of nuclear element they put in here. Judging by the glow of the crack and the fact that they used Class-3 glass, I'm assuming they went with Plutonium. Unfortunately, that also turns this thing into a dirty bomb should anything in here explode."

"Well, they didn't put anything like that in there, right?"

"Not that I've seen, it all looks pretty safe so-"

Sam stopped his words upon discovering something very dangerous. Just outside of the nuclear core was a small explosive device with a red light on, indicated that it was armed.

"Ok... _that's_ not so safe." Sam said.

"What? What's not safe?" Reggie asked.

"I just noticed this small device here. This wasn't on a few hours ago. It looks like it's been activated remotely."

"So does that mean this thing is a nuclear bomb now?!"

"No. By the way this has been wired, it looks like the bomb was meant to safely destroy this board without making it go nuclear. Like I said, whoever designed this was smart enough to plan for contingencies."

"So can you disarm that thing?"

"I don't know. The way it's been designed, the explosion is supposed to destroy the Plutonium core before it can harm anyone. If I tamper with it, I could potentially remove that only fail-safe and possibly create a nuclear bomb."

"Oh. Crap. What else can you do?"

"Not much. All we can really do is be careful with this board, and hope it doesn't blow up on us."

"That doesn't really sound like the best option for a nuclear bomb skateboard, Sammy."

"It's not, but it's the only choice we have. If I get anything else, I'll let you know."

After Sam finished his presentation of the hoverboard, the garage door began to open, revealing Otto and Twister walking inside, both holding bags of fast food in their hands.

"Hey, dude, we brought dinner- What the..." Otto said.

Otto's greeting was immediately cut short upon seeing Reggie standing in his garage, revealing that she knew the secret of the hoverboard that he obtained.

"Uh, Squid, didn't we agree _not_ to keep Reggie in this?" Otto asked.

"We did, but, uh... She's better than we thought." Sam said.

"Oh, so you get your hands on an experimental board, and none of you think I should be part of this?" Reggie asked.

"We were doing it for your own safety, Reggie. We were trying to make sure that only very few people knew about the board."

"Yeah, well, I'm here now, and I lost my job over it. So, now that I'm here, what's the big plan?"

* * *

Half an hour and several Good Burgers later...

"So, the plan is, we find Lars, we find the Rippers, then, we stop them from terrorizing Ocean Shores?" Reggie asked.

"Yeah, that's pretty much our game plan." Otto said.

"So... You go out to catch Lars, and you end up joining a skateboarding team?"

"If the team's as popular as they say, that means we can build some connections. If I know Lars, he's still skating somewhere, one-armed or not, and I doubt he's left Ocean Shores. He's skating somewhere, and we can find him with more eyes on him."

"Yeah, right. This is just some excuse to show off to everyone, right?"

"No, he's right. If we check out more and more skating parks, that could help our chances of finding him. This team probably knows a lot more parks than us in the SoCal area, so things could help." Sam said.

"But what about, like, not wanting more people in on the whole 'finding the Rippers' thing?" Twister asked.

"I don't like the idea, but, if Reggie's in, it really doesn't matter at this point. We're all in this together now."

"You know, it's kinda funny how a group of skating criminals got us to get back together as a team again. I kinda wish they blew up your store sooner." Otto said.

Sam gave Otto a disappointed look from his ill-worded statement.

"Well, you know, the whole part about your store getting blown up sucks, but, I'm just saying it's cool to be back together." Otto said.

"Well... I guess I'll give you that one. It's cool to all be working together again." Sam said.

"Yeah. It's like the good old days when we were kids." Twister said.

"Uh, guys, if you're not too busy with your nostalgia trip, can we please focus back on the mission, please?" Reggie asked.

"Right. Dax invited me to a party tonight at a place called 816 Klasky Street. Me and Twist are gonna head there tonight, see if we can find Lars or someone who knows him." Otto asked.

"Squid, while we're out, you think you can find some thing we can use on the team, like, look up their names and stuff?" Twister asked.

"What do you mean, 'something we can use'? You don't trust them?" Sam asked.

"Agh, not this again." Otto said.

"There's just something weird about these guys. They, like, put us on their team after just one day. Isn't that kinda fast?" Twister asked.

"Twister, did you forget who you're talking to? They wanted me because I'm the best, and they recognized it."

"Twister still has a point. That's a lot of faith to put in a stranger. You barely know these guys. Hell, I don't think we've even heard of them until just now, have we?" Sam asked.

"Well... I guess not. Maybe they're new in town. They're with Zero Gravity Zone, and there's, like, hundreds of them in the country."

"Looking into them still won't hurt. I'll let you know if I find anything. For now, I think you have a party to get to."

"Right. Twister, you up for a party?"

"I don't know, man, I just ate a lot. I don't wanna throw up." Twister said.

"Dude, we're trying to save the city. You seriously wanna sit it out because you ate too much?"

"Uh... No, I guess not. Forget I said anything."

"So, where does that leave me?" Reggie asked.

"Well... You could help me look up the Prodigy team. I could use some help... uh... writing things down?" Sam said.

"Uh, dude, are you trying to get into my sister's pants?" Otto asked.

"What?! No! What the hell kind of a question is that?! I meant that I just... wanted to find something for her to do!"

"Like what? Play tonsil hockey while you surf the web?"

"Otto, that's enough. Who I date is none of your business, and the fact that you want to play some kind of 'protective brother' act when not only have you not seen me in several years, but you have even less responsibility than when you were a kid, is less than charming." Reggie said.

"Fine, whatever. I just don't wanna think about what ugly nieces and nephews you two are gonna give me."

"I WILL STRANGLE YOU WITH YOUR OWN NUTSACK!"

Reggie began to angrily rush towards Otto, intending to make good on her violent threat, but Otto finally backed off from his approach towards her new and sudden relationship with Sam.

"Okay, fine, whatever, Jesus. Twister, party time." Otto said.

"Right behind you, man." Twister said.

Taking their skateboards at hand, Otto and Twister began skating to the warehouse, ready to join the party and continue their search for Lars. Reggie and Sam, alone again from the two, began to head inside for their internet search of the Prodigy team.

"So, uh, what was all that about dating and stuff?" Sam asked.

"It, uh... It was... I..." Reggie stammered.

"That almost-kiss on the floor was just a crazy moment from getting fired, right?"

"Yeah, uh, yeah, it was. In fact, I think I'll go to Alex Gravity tomorrow and talk to him about that."

"Wait, Alex Gravity? The owner of Zero Gravity Zone? Why him?"

"Didn't you hear? He bought out _Ocean Shores Today_."

"...He _bought out_ the 'zine?"

"Yeah. You didn't hear? That must've been on the news or something, right?"

"No, I didn't hear anything about that."

"So... What does that mean?"

"I don't know. That's really weird that a theme park owner would just buy some 'zine in the middle of a dead town. What's that about?"

"I don't know, but, if it means I can get my job back somehow, it's worth a shot."

"Well, in any case, we'd better get to searching up these guys. With that new bit of information you brought to light, we might want to look up what's going on with Mr. Gravity as well. Plus, if you're planning to see him tomorrow, maybe we can inquire a little more with him personally."


	9. Chapter 8: The Fast and The Furious

**CHAPTER 8: THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS**

At the address of 816 Klasky Street, Otto and Twister arrived outside the front of the warehouse, ready to join in on the party. However, after a sharp knock on the front door, and a brief moment of waiting, no reply nor meeting was heard. Otto gave another sharp knock to the warehouse door, waiting again for a reply, only to receive no reply again.

"Uh, dude, are you sure you brought us to the right place?" Twister asked.

"What? He said 816 Klasky Street, this is the place. Are you suggesting there's more than one warehouse here with that address?" Otto asked.

"No, dude, but... What if he, like, pranked us?"

"What do you mean, 'pranked us'? You think he'd do that to his new recruits?"

"Well, what if he didn't really wanna recruit us and just wanted to mess with us?"

"Oh, yeah, so, he saved me from getting beat up just so he could send me in the middle of nowhere. How's that make sense?"

"Well, he's not here, dude. What does that tell you?"

As the two continued to argue, a pair of hands landed on the shoulders of the two friends, giving each of them a startle. The two turmed to view the owner of the hands, both finding themselves greeted by Dax Jett, happy to see the two arrive.

"It tells me that you two don't have much faith in others, or, rather, just Twister here." Dax said.

"Whoa! Uh, hey, dude, I was just-" Twister tried to say.

"Think nothing of it, Twister. I'm not a grudging man."

"So, what's the deal? You said the party was in here." Otto asked.

"Oh, no, no, no. I believe I told you to meet me here, I never said the party was in the warehouse."

"So, where the party at?"

"Right this way, gentlemen."

Otto and Twister followed Dax to the supposed party, Twister becoming skeptical of whether there was indeed a party in the first place. After a few minutes of walking, however, Twister's skepticism quickly came to an end and both of the skaters found themselves extremely pleased with the sight of the party.

[Soundtrack Cue: KMFDM - Megalomaniac]

Sitting within a large concrete pit, a large group of skaters, surfers, teenagers, nu-metal heads, ska punkers, and all the counter-culture of the SoCal area all threw a massive party, celebrating their unity in fun and good times. The numerous subcultures all coming together as one, a product of their times, all came together in this one moment to act as one time capsule of the late '90s and early '00s.

Flashing strobe lights flashed throughout the pit, breaking through the near-pitch black tone of the night; skaters rode up and down the concrete landfills, using it like a makeshift ramp; several recreational drugs like marijuana and ecstasy were passed around along with water bottles; and a DJ was playing blaring loud music over a large assortment of speakers, with numerous attractive, scantily-clad women dancing for the group to see and a large group below raving to the music.

Otto and Twister, more than happy to see an impressive party and a huge group of fun-loving people like themselves, were more than impressed with the party.

"Dude... How come I never heard of all these people in Ocean Shores before?" Otto asked.

"It's a little hidden gem for most people in the SoCal area. Anybody who's anybody knows about it." Dax said.

"Then how come we never heard of it?" Twister asked.

"Well, you two never met me before."

Dax, more than eager to join in on the party, began escorting Otto and Twister into the party, ready to partake in the numerous fun activities to be found.

"Come on, boys, I'll introduce you to a few of my friends." Dax said.

Dax escorted the two down to the heart of the party, taking them to the remainder of the Prodigy team, awaiting their arrival.

"My teammates you kind of know, here's a better run-down. Jared's the tech guy, he takes care of our boards, does custom builds for us, gets whatever kind of parts we need." Dax said.

"Pleased to formally meet you guys." Jared said.

Jared shared a handshake with Otto and Twister.

"Mike's the wild child. He's into skating, surfing, rollerblading, hockey, and, let's not forget his personal favorite; fighting. You don't want on his bad side, but, if you're on his good side, he will fight for you 'till the day you die." Dax said.

"What's up?" Mike asked.

Mike shared a handshake with Otto and Twister as well.

"This fine man here is Wes. He's been my best friend as far as I can remember, and my skateboarding partner as far as that." Dax said.

Before Wes could properly introduce himself to the group, Dax and Wes shared a kiss in front of the group. Otto and Twister, not expecting the two to be as close as they were seeing, found themselves a bit surprised at the two.

"Oh, so, uh... You're gay? Not that there's anything wrong with that, I mean-" Otto tried to say.

"Not quite. Wes here's gay, but I'm a different story." Dax said.

"How do you do?" Wes asked.

Wes shared a handshake with Otto and Twister, with the two pushing aside their initial surprise for friendliness towards their new teammate.

Twister, concerning himself more with the party, took notice of several of the attractive women dancing in the rave, rushing to join in on the fun. Otto, more interested in knowing the leader of the Prodigy team better, followed him to ask more questions.

"So, what do you mean, 'a different story'?" Otto asked.

"What?" Dax asked.

"I asked if you were gay, you said you were a different story. What does that mean?"

"I honestly don't care about gender. You could be male, female, trans, intersex, from Mars, it doesn't matter to me. Hell, I really don't even care about sex that much. I've always lived for one thing, and one thing only."

"Which is?"

"The ride, Otto. Wherever that may be. Skating, surfing, whatever. What's the point of living your life if you're not using it to seize every moment, make the most of everything?"

"Sounds good to me, dude, but you never wanna take a bit and calm down? Even I like to take some time to smoke some grass and chill out."

"I don't smoke, drink, or do drugs. I'm not Straight Edge, but I prefer living natural highs. Why would I do a line of cocaine and tear up my nose when I could jump out of a plane and feel the air blowing past my face as I fall straight towards the Earth?"

"I don't do coke, but I see what you mean. So, what, you're just at it 24/7, never sleep?"

"I rarely sleep, and even then it's only because I just had sex. My head's always in the moment too much that I forget about all my other troubles; food, water, sleep, all that just goes away."

"Hell of a life, dude."

"Hell of a life, indeed. The more you hang with us, the more you'll start to find me rubbing off on you a bit. That happens to everybody in the team."

"Uh..."

"Not in a literal way, of course. Like I said, I barely care about sex. Besides, you and Twister aren't really my type."

"Oh, well, that's a little reassuring."

"Don't take that wrong, though. You guys seem cool to me. I think you guys'll fit right in with us."

"I hope so, too. You guys are pretty cool, and I like you guys so far."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the rave, Twister continued to enjoy himself in the rave, dancing next to several beautiful women and getting to know them more personally.

"So, hey, girl, I'm, like, in the Prodigy team." Twister said.

"The Prodigy, huh?" One woman asked.

"Yeah, they recruited me in one day."

"Only one day? You must really be good, huh?" Another woman asked.

"You bet. I'm one of the best skaters in Ocean Shores, and one of the best cinematographers."

"Cine-what?" The first woman asked.

"I film skaters doing tricks, and I'm pretty good at it, too."

"Really? Ever thought about making a little... 'home video'?" The second woman asked.

"Well... since you asked so nicely..."

As Twister continued to flirt with the two women clutching onto him, far too busy with the matters in his hands now, took no notice of anything else around him. Unfortunately, that also included a threat coming very near that he was not prepared for.

While Twister continued to talk to the two women at his sides, a hand placed itself on his shoulder, turning him around. Twister, caught off-guard by the stranger pulling him aside, was unpleasantly surprised by a group of 4 strangers staring him down rather unhappily.

"So, uh... Can I help you guys?" Twister asked.

"Couldn't help but overhear you, you said you're with the Prodigy team, right?" One stranger asked.

"Yeah, dude. Want an autograph?"

"How about we give you one instead?"

The stranger delivered a sharp punch to Twister's face, knocking him to the ground. With their target knocked to the ground and caught off-guard, the rest of the group joined in on beating him to the ground, all viciously beating him down.

As the group of ruffians continued beating Twister, the ravers backed up from the group, none wanting to intervene in the fight.

[Soundtrack Cue End]

The DJ, taking better notice of the fight with the ravers out of his line of sight, turned off the music and brought more attention to the fight to those not observing.

"Hey! We got 4 guys jumping some guy in the pit! Can somebody lend this dude a hand?" The DJ called.

A few feet away, Otto and Dax took notice of the fight going on, immediately recognizing Twister and also recognizing the 4 attackers as the group that attacked Otto at Zero Gravity Zone. Recognizing the problem at hand, Otto, Dax, and the rest of the Prodigy team all rushed into the pit to break the fight up.

Upon reaching the pit, the Prodigy, outnumbering the attacking team 5 to 4, easily broke up the fight, pushing the attackers back and helping Twister off the ground.

"You mind explaining why you 4 felt the need to attack my newest member and ruin a good time? I thought we already dealt with you this afternoon." Dax asked.

"Not quite, pal. We've still got a bone to pick with you." The leader said.

"Oh, yeah? You care to elaborate?"

"Fair enough. Allow us to introduce ourselves. Name's Randy. People call me Randy the Rowdy, and these 3 behind me are called the Rowdy Boyz, that's with a 'Z'."

"With a 'Z'? Didn't anyone tell you that 'boys' ends with an 'S', or did you drop out before you got to that lesson in school?"

The crowd all shared a hearty laugh at Dax's joke, leaving Randy in a state of humiliation.

"Oh, you think that's funny, huh?" Randy asked.

"Well, these people think so." Dax said.

"Well, then, Mr. Comedian, is this your idea of a joke?"

Randy held up a broken skateboard, the board being broken in half.

"What am I looking at?" Dax asked.

"Just this afternoon, your boy there knocked one of my buddies down in Zero Gravity Zone, and he broke his board in half." Randy said.

"That thing? No shit it broke, it's a Kryptonics board. Where do you get your gear, WallMore?"

The crowd laughed again at Randy and the Rowdy Boyz, making him grow impatient with each humiliation thrown on him. Not able to take any more abuse, Randy finally offered a challenge to settle the affair.

"Oh, so, what, you think you're better than us with those boards you ride? Tell you what, why don't you put your money where your mouths are?" Randy asked.

"What are you saying, you wanna race us?" Dax asked.

"Hell, yeah, we do. You up for it?"

"I don't know, man, I don't think you're worth our time."

"How about we make it interesting, then?"

"Interesting how?"

"Both teams put down $500. The winner walks away with $1,000 and the loser's board."

The crowd, intrigued by the offer, all 'ooh'ed in anticipation of the race, eagerly awaiting Dax to accept.

"$1,000 and the loser's board, huh? Well, I doubt that your board could be anything I might want if you boys run shit like Kryptonics." Dax said.

"Don't hold your breath, man. Allow me to show you what I got." Randy said.

Randy pulled out a case containing his own board, revealing it to be an Alva skateboard, well-preserved and well-maintained.

"Alva board, 1977 re-issue. Still think It's not worth it?" Randy asked.

The crowd 'ooh'ed in awe again, all awaiting Dax to give his reply. After a few minutes of thinking, Dax finally answered.

"How about this? Since Otto here's the one who broke your buddy's board, he'll be the one to race you. Sound fair?" Dax asked.

"Fine by me. You got $500?" Randy asked.

Dax pulled $500 out of his pocket, holding it up for Randy to see.

"How about you?" Dax asked.

Randy nudged one of his teammates, enticing him to pull out a wad of money out of his pocket and selecting out $500.

"We're good for it." Randy said.

"Sounds good. Where are we racing?" Dax asked.

"From here to the beach. Should be a straight shot and back."

"Okay, we're down."

As the Rowdy Boyz and the group all rushed to the top of the hill, the Rowdy Boyz ready to race and the group ready to watch, the Prodigy waited behind to pep-talk Otto, who was sweating bullets at the idea of being thrown in a race without his consent.

"Hey, what'd you do that for?" Otto asked.

"What'd I do what for?" Dax asked.

"You just throw me in a race like that?"

"So? I thought you liked races, don't you?"

"Yeah, man, but what'd you throw me in like that for?"

"Well, you want in the Prodigy, call this a little... 'initiation'."

"I don't have my board on me, dude."

Dax snapped his fingers, signalling Jared to throw Otto a board.

"Jared always holds our boards for us. That one's mine, should serve you good." Dax said.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, dude. I don't like having people ride on me for stuff." Otto said.

"What, are you scared you're gonna lose and cost me $500 and a board?"

"Hey, man, I'm not gonna lose, I just-"

"You just what?"

Otto tried to think of something to say to shirk the responsibility of having to race, but his lack of wit, desire to race, and overconfidence all proved far too much to keep him back, deciding to race.

"To the beach, right?" Otto asked.

"Yep." Dax said.

"Where's the starting point?"

* * *

At the starting point of the race, Otto and Randy waited patiently, both standing on their boards, more than ready to start. On the sidelines, the Prodigy and the Rowdy Boyz awaited the race to start, cheering on their own racers.

"Come on, Randy! Whip that punk good!" The Rowdy Boyz yelled.

"Go, Otto, go! Get these jerkweeds!" Twister shouted.

"You got this, Otto! Don't sweat it!" Mike shouted.

"Use that board good, man!" Jared shouted.

"Give those boys a good licking!" Wes shouted.

"Make me proud, Otto!" Dax shouted.

Both racers more than encouraged by their teams cheering them on, Otto and Randy faced each other, both more than determined to win.

"You ready to eat my dust, punk?" Randy asked.

"After you hand over that Alva." Otto said.

"Don't count on it, boy. You haven't won yet."

"Neither have you."

[Soundtrack Cue: BT - Never Gonna Come Back Down]

At the front of the starting point, a moderator stepped to the front, preparing to start the race.

"Gentlemen, on your marks..." The moderator said.

Otto and Randy moved to the very edge of the starting line, preparing to race down the hill.

"Get set..." The moderator said.

Otto and Randy leaned down on their boards, taking their stance to race down the hill.

"... _ **GO!**_ " The moderator shouted.

Pushing themselves down the hill, Otto and Randy began rocketing down the hill, beginning the race. With both racers having a decent slope to ride down, Otto and Randy found themselves at a stalemate fairly quickly as the race began.

Racing down the hill at high speeds on small boards barely able to hold their users safe on the descent, the racers held their boards tight to make sure neither took a nasty fall and hurt themselves.

Otto, having slightly more weight than his opponent, had an advantage in the race, heading downhill at a faster rate than Randy. Randy, not so easy to lose the race and his board, decided to play dirty to win the race.

Taking some inspiration from the incident which started this ordeal, Randy began running into Otto, trying to knock him off of his board. Otto, too determined to be pushed off, tried pushing back to keep in the race.

After one push too powerful to counter, however, Otto got pushed to the side of the street, nearly hitting the sidewalk. Taking his gloved hand to the ground to move himself back into the street, Otto pushed himself back into the road again, heading back into the race properly.

Now being behind in the race, Otto shifted his body to a more aerodynamic posture, gaining more speed and catching up in the race, but reaching dangerous levels of speed. Barely able to keep balanced on his board, Otto focused as hard as he could to win the race, not wanting to lose, not for himself nor his team.

As he began to catch up to Randy, Otto took notice of the finish line ahead, the line laying on the sidewalk just outside of the beach. Knowing he was low on options to catch up, not to mention barely able to maintain his speed for much longer, Otto thought fast to find a way to catch up again.

Fortunately, a way was found just in time. Laying to the side of the road, just outside the finish line, was a sheet of wood laying in the back of a truck. To some, the sight might come off as just a piece of wood. To Otto, however, the sight was a ramp waiting to be ridden.

Heading towards the makeshift ramp, Otto increased his speed as much as possible, barely able to hold on to his board for much longer. Riding up the board at several miles per hour, the board breaking just before he could make his aerial launch, Otto shot up into the air, heading right over his opponent's head.

Randy, not having Otto in his sights, believed that victory was within his grasp. Giving a laugh at his opponent's seeming defeat, Randy continued to head towards the finish line.

"That was the best he could do? Damn, I guess he was worse than I thought." Randy thought aloud.

As Randy continued his inner monologue, a shadow overcame him as he neared the finish line. Looking up to see the source of the shadow, Randy found himself surprised and shocked to see Otto launching over his head, flying straight for the finish line.

With a margin of winning nearly impossible to see, Otto crossed the finish line just microseconds before Randy could, marking him the winner of the race. Upon finally hitting the ground again, Otto tumbled in the sandy beach, the sand softening his rough landing.

[Soundtrack Cue End]

With the race ending in Otto's favor, the crowd all rushed to him, all cheering in support. Otto, more than proud to have won the race, got up from the ground, brushing the sand off his body, and raised his hands in victory.

"Yeah! That's right, who's the man?!" Otto shouted.

Twister and the Prodigy, quickly making their way to Otto, all gave him a pat on the back and many congratulations.

"Twister, please tell me you got that on camera." Otto said.

"Don't I always get it on camera?" Twister asked.

Twister held up his camera, having recorded the race as it progressed and capturing every minute. Dax gave Otto a firm handshake, having witnessed his newest team member won his first race.

"What'd I tell you? I knew you could do it." Dax said.

"Yeah, man. I did it. Thanks for throwing me in." Otto said.

With Otto receiving all the praise, Randy rushed to the group, less than impressed with losing the race.

"Hey, man, that's not right! He jumped over me with a damn ramp!" Randy said.

"So? I don't remember making any rules about ramps. What I do remember, however, is that the loser has to fork up $500 and their board to the winner." Dax said.

"Come on, man, he only won by an inch! I want a rematch!"

"Whether he won by an inch or a mile, a win's a win. The money and the board, if you please."

Randy, extremely frustrated with losing the race, handed over his board and $500 to Dax.

"Uh-uh-uh. I said, the loser forks it over to the _winner._ I wasn't the one racing." Dax said.

Left even more humiliated by his loss, Randy approached Otto and handed over his board and money, who gladly took it.

"Thank you very much, my good sir." Otto said.

"Fine, whatever. Enjoy that board, dickwad." Randy said.

Before Randy could leave with whatever dignity remained with him, Dax stopped him for one last action.

"What? My board and money's not enough? What do you want, my house?" Randy asked.

"Nope. I want you two to shake hands." Dax said.

"What?! Are you serious?!"

"This man took the time to race you, and you took the time to race him. You each deserve to thank each other for the race, regardless who won or lost. Shake hands."

Reluctant and still angry, Randy reached out his hand, facing away from Otto. Otto, following Dax's request, shook Randy's hand, formally ending the race and finishing the transaction. Randy, no longer wanting to be in the presence of the Prodigy team, proceeded to head home with the rest of the Rowdy Boyz.

"So, Randy, you're gonna pay me back that $500, right?" One Rowdy Boy asked.

"Shut up, Jason." Randy said.

The Prodigy, more than proud of their newest member winning the race, all continued to congratulate Otto for his victory in the race.

"So, you're $500 richer and you got yourself a new Alva board. How're you gonna celebrate?" Dax asked.

"How about we head back to the party and get our freak on?" Otto asked.

"I like the way you think, man." Mike said.

"This dude knows what's up." Jared said.

"Twist, you up to partake in the part-ay?" Otto asked.

"Dude, you know I'm always down to party. Let's hit it!" Twister said.

The Prodigy more than victorious for the night, the crowd went back up to the pit, the party starting again and contiuing for the rest of the night, leaving Otto and Twister more than occupied for the night.


	10. Chapter 9: Learning Curve

**CHAPTER 9: LEARNING CURVE**

With the morning sun beginning to rise in Ocean Shores, a new summer day comes to a good start, with its sunlight bringing a waking light to the residents of the beach city. At the home of Raymundo Rocket, Ray, the man of the house himself, continued to sadly lay on his couch, continuing his sleep, hoping to find some peace to his problems. After a few shots of whiskey and a long while of self-sulking from the night before, his sleep was not an easy state to achieve, and he aimed to hold onto it for a while.

As he continued to doze off, a strange phenomenon awoke him from his sleep, catching him in a haze of distorted consciousness as he began to awake. Listening carefully to the strange sounds that woke him, Ray's ears were met with very peculiar ambient noises, the noises beginning to echo throughout the walls of his house.

Ray sat up and began to listen for the noises again, but, after a few seconds, the noises stopped, with no signs of their presence existing. With the noises gone, Ray disregarded the affair and began to doze back to sleep, looking to put his troubles behind him again.

However, as Ray finally began to fall asleep again, the noises had returned yet again, disturbing him again from his much-needed slumber. Annoyed at the strange sounds interrupting his sleep again, Ray got up from the couch, leaving him now more, but not fully, awake. Upon awakening, Ray began to looking about the house, hoping to seek out and find the source of the sounds preventing him from sleeping.

Still, after giving his house a quick and sharp sweep with his eyes, Ray saw nothing that could possibly be causing the strange noise, leaving him without any clues to the strange phenomenon keeping him conscious against his own wishes. After still not finding what was causing the strange sounds in his house, Ray began to return to his couch, hoping to finally catch some sleep in peace.

Just before his buttocks could touch the fabric of his couch, preparing to start his rest again, the noises returned with a vengeance, returning louder and more apparent. Frustrated that the sounds had prevented him from even touching his couch, Ray became more annoyed and angered at the obnoxious noises, making him more determined to find the source, and his frustrated state of mind now fully taking him out of whatever state of sleep remained in his mind.

Following the source of the sounds, Ray walked to the other end of his house, following the noises to a dimly-lit room of his house. While not able to see anything in the darkness of the room, Ray was more than certain that the source of the noise was within this part of his home. Ready to confront the source of the noise and put it to a stop, Ray turned on the light to the room, more than ready to deal with the obnoxious noises keeping him awake.

When the light came on, cutting through the shadows that shrouded the room, what Ray's were met with was not at all what he was expecting. Rather than meeting something small and mundane that was keeping him awake, he was instead met with the one and only fear in his life standing before him...

...a poodle.

The poodle gave a short and innocent bark, giving the poodle an innocent and unassuming look. Where others might find this sight and sound cute and appealing, it caused Ray to scream in absolute terror, leading him to press himself against the wall, hoping to get as far away from the poodle as possible.

"Oh, god, no! Get away from me! Please, I'm begging you, stop this!" Ray screamed.

Continuing to tremble and cry in fear at the sight of the poodle, Ray covered his eyes, hoping to subside his fear by removing the terrifying canine from his sight. However, as Ray continued to cower and quiver in fear, a second look at the poodle began to change the situation drastically.

After looking at the poodle yet again, Ray had noticed that the poodle had not moved an inch, not even breathing. Upon looking at the poodle again, Ray noticed that this was not a real poodle, but, rather, a stuffed animal based off of a poodle. Now realizing the truth behind the 'poodle', Ray's fear turned to confusion upon the source of the poodle's bark.

Finally, after the realization had come to Ray, a fit of laughter was heard in the corner of the same room. Coming out of the corner of the room was Noelani laughing hysterically at Ray's act of fear, holding a walkie-talkie in her hand. She gave a fake bark into the radio to show that she placed another one behind the 'poodle' to scare Ray, ending Ray's moment of fear and quickly turning it to embarrassment.

"My goodness, sweetie, you should have seen the look on your face!" Noelani laughed.

Despite Noelani's enjoyment of the playful prank, Ray was less than impressed with his wife's exploitation of his greatest fear in his life.

"That was _not_ funny, Noelani. Why would you do that?" Ray asked.

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself. I found this old stuffed animal in my things and I thought it could make a good prank we could laugh about." Noelani said.

"Come on, Noelani, you know I'm still scared of poodles."

"But why? You've never told me all these years and I wanna know why."

"...You know those instances when dogs hump your leg?"

Noelani gave a nod. Ray, not prepared to share the most shameful secret of his life, mustered up as much strength as he possibly could to let out the words.

"...A poodle tried to rape me when I was 2." Ray said.

Upon hearing the truth behind Ray's irrational fear of poodles, Noelani burst out laughing even harder than before, falling to the floor.

"Talk about puppy love! He must've really liked you!" Noelani said.

Not amused with his wife's continued laughter at his lifelong fear, Ray picked himself off of the floor, sitting back on the couch to be alone. Upon realizing Ray's negative emotional state, Noelani's streak of hysteria came to a quick end. Wishing to make amends for her cruel prank, Noelani followed Ray into the living room, trying to make reparations for her exploitative act.

"Sweetie, I'm sorry. That wasn't nice of me. I was just trying to lighten things up around here, it wasn't right of me to make fun of your fears like-" Noelani started to say.

"I'm not upset about the poodle thing, Noelani. Normally, I'd just laugh that off. I'm just not in the mood for jokes right now." Ray interrupted.

"Why not? My auntie always told a good joke to see people smile. It always made their days a little better."

"I'm not looking to make my day better, I'm looking to make my son a more successful person, and I'm screwing that up horribly."

"You're not screwing up at all, honey. You just need to give Otto some time."

"I'VE GIVEN THAT BOY 7 GODDAMN YEARS! I CAN'T MAKE THAT BOY LEARN! HE'S NEVER GONNA GROW UP!"

Not expecting Ray's sudden outburst of anger, Noelani was taken aback by Ray's his emotional reaction, acting fearful of his next move. Upon realizing his mistake, Ray immediately held Noelai tight to amend his mistake, deeply regretting his reaction.

"I'm sorry, baby, I didn't mean to yell at you. I'd never do anything to hurt you, especially not like that. But I don't know what else I should do. I've tried everything that I can to try to get that boy to make his life right." Ray said.

After sharing a short embrace with her husband, seeking to comfort him in his moment of sadness and frustration, Noelani finally had something to say to fix his dilemma.

"Maybe you shouldn't try to make his life right." Noelani said.

"...What? I just want him to-" Ray tried to ask.

"All this time, you've been trying to make him do what _you_ want. But did you ever stop to think about what _he_ wants?"

"Well... I... I was thinking about his best interests when I-"

"But did you think about what he _wants_?"

Upon thinking over Noelani's question carefully, Ray finally realized the truth, seeing the error in his ways in dealing with his son.

"...No. I didn't." Ray said.

"Then maybe you should let it go and decide to let him live his life for his own happiness." Noelani said.

"But I don't want him living like me! I'm still flipping burgers at my age when I should've gotten some higher-paying job and had my children well-off."

"If you should've got some higher-paying job, but still continued to work at the Shore Shack, then why did you do it?"

"Because working that job made me happy. I liked it."

"It made you happy, even though that you didn't make a lot of money from it?"

"...Yeah. I guess it did."

"Well, then, if you can find happiness and content with life with how you like to live it, what makes Otto's choices different from yours? Maybe he's more like you than you think."

After thinking over Noelani's words, continuing to think on his own revelation, the realization of Otto's nature finally became clear to Ray. They both pursued their passions rather than money, no matter what the cost was. The apple never fell far from the tree.

"Ancient Hawaiian saying: 'A man cannot change the tide no matter how many rocks he throws at it.'" Noelani finished.

Upon finally understanding a seemingly cryptic Hawaiian proverb, everything finally became clear to Ray in his life. After thinking hard for a long moment, he knew what he had to do next. Ray finally broke the hug to walk out the door, ready to complete his next task.

"I'll be back later, honey, I need to talk to Otto." Ray said.

"What? But didn't you hear what I-" Noelani began to say.

"I did listen. You're right, Noelani. You're absolutely right. I've been focusing too much on making him into what I wanted that I never thought about what _he_ wanted. It's time that I let him know that."

Before leaving out the door, Ray gave Noelani a temporary kiss goodbye before completing his next action.

"I'll be back soon. See you in a bit." Ray said.

"Okay. You do what you have to do. I'll have dinner ready when you get back." Noelani replied.

Ready to make amends with his son once and for all, Ray walked out of his house and preceded to walk to Otto's house, thinking over the right set of words to say to his son. Meanwhile, back at the house, Noelani began to look over the various cookbooks in the house, hoping to find something to make an appetizing dinner for the evening.

"Just as soon as I figure out which of Tito's recipe books has food that doesn't have pineapple or coconuts, for once." Noelani said.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the simpler (and much more disgusting) abode of Otto and Twister, the homeowners begin to make their way back home after a long, heavy night of partying at the secret hideout of Ocean Shores' youth and counterculture. Both exhausted after numerous hours of partying, drinking, and consuming mind-altering substances, the two hoped to come home to fall fast asleep and not worry about their troubles with the Rippers until they wake up again, whenever that may be.

"Dude, how much did we drink at that party?" Otto asked.

"All of it." Twister answered.

"I thought so, dude. I think we put the Russians to shame with how much Vodka we downed."

"That's nothing, dude. I banged a chick in some port-a-potty and she nearly made me pass out. My balls have never felt so depleted."

"Oh, yeah? Who was she?"

"Half-Puerto Rican, half-Italian."

"Damn, dude! I'm almost jealous."

"Yeah, well, next time you can have her. I couldn't handle that."

"I appreciate the offer, dude, but I've got Clio."

Twister, remembering that he had never shared the news of Clio leaving him, had a sudden and uncomfortable realization upon recollecting the event.

"Uh, Otto? I think I might have to tell you something about Clio." Twister said.

"I can hear her embarrassing moments from her childhood later, dude. Right this second, I just wanna lay the hell down and not be conscious for the next 12 hours." Otto said.

Otto's goal, however, will not be as easy to accomplish as he hopes. As the two friends approached the garage door to head inside, the door began retracting on its own before they could activate it. Their initial confusion towards the event soon subsided, as they were both met with the rather disappointed faces of Reggie, Sam, and Tito, all awaiting their arrival.

"Uh... What's up, guys? You come to tuck us in?" Otto asked.

"Cut the crap, Otto. Did you really get anything out of that place, or was all that talk just an excuse to party?" Reggie asked.

"What?! Reggie, these guys attacked me, need I remind you? I wanna get these guys back for blowing up Sam's store too. Plus, since Sam doesn't have all his stuff anymore, we can't upload our videos. I got just as much riding on this as you guys."

"Well, then, what'd you get?" Sam asked.

"Uh..."

Otto thought for a minute to think over what information he had gathered at the party, but, after thinking carefully on his reply for a good minute, he realized that he had come up with nothing. However, he did remember that there was one memoir he did retrieve from the party.

"I won this sweet Alva board in a race." Otto said.

As Otto proudly held up his skateboard prize, Reggie, Sam, and Tito all sighed in disappointment, as the reconnaissance mission proved not only to be fruitless, but only served to provide Otto with his own selfish wants.

"Otto, have you _completely_ lost sight of what we're doing here?" Reggie asked.

"No, Reg. We're supposed to catch Lars, and, then, we make him tell us where the Rippers are. I remember." Otto said.

"Well, that's funny, because you don't seem to have any memory past 3 seconds, unless what it is somehow pertains to you smoking weed, partying, or getting laid! I already lost my job because of this!"

"Hey, quit getting pissed at me, Reggie. Nobody asked you to join us, let alone share our little secret to your boss and get fired for looking like a crackpot. You're lucky we don't just kick you out for that little stunt anyway."

Upon realizing that the only person that Reggie had to blame for her unemployment status was herself, she began to back down on her own aggression.

"Okay, okay, fine. Let's just try not to get mad at each other. Besides, I'm gonna talk to Alex Gravity and see if I can get my job back. I guess things aren't that bad." Reggie said.

"That still doesn't excuse that you didn't find anything, Otto. That whole mission was for nothing." Sam said.

"Yeah, but this is undercover work, Sam. It takes time to-" Otto tried to say.

"'Undercover'? Otto, in order for you to be undercover, you actually have to be working with the bad guy. We don't know if the Prodigy team is them, let alone any clues as to who is."

"Well, maybe we have one idea." Twister said.

"Oh, yeah? Who've you got as a suspect?"

"Well, Otto won that board off this jerk named Randy the Rowdy. He runs some team called the Rowdy Boyz, that's with a 'Z'. They were the same guys that tried to beat up Otto at ZGZ, so maybe they definitely like to get into trouble. They also had a lot of cash on them, enough to pay Otto 500 dollars for winning. So, if the Rippers like to blow up stores, who's to say they won't rob 'em, too? Maybe these guys fit the bill."

After he delivered his well-thought out analysis of the Rowdy Boyz potentially being the Rippers, the entire group stared at Twister in shock, all surprised that the one they always thought to be the least intelligent of their group turned out to have the best piece of evidence any of them could get. Not expecting the group to react to him in the same way again, Twister looked around at the group in confusion.

"...What?" Twister asked.

"Twist, I swear, how are you able to figure this stuff out? Are you like, some kind of super-detective?" Otto asked.

"No, dude. I'm telling you, this stuff just comes to me."

"Well, regardless of how he came up with it, he found a good bit of evidence. If these guys are as bad as you say, and if they happen to carry cash like that a lot, then maybe these are the people we're looking for. I think I'll take a closer look at these guys and see what I can find out on them." Sam said.

"And I'll go and have a talk with Alex Gravity. I don't know if you've heard, but he bought out _Ocean Shores Today._ Since you two don't know anything about economics, I'll give you the short version: He's a millionaire theme park owner, people like them don't usually buy magazines in the middle of nowhere, and I'm gonna find out why, and maybe get my job back." Reggie said.

"Fine by me. Right now, I'm just gonna get some sleep, then give Clio a call in the morning." Otto said.

Twister was yet again brought discomfort from not giving his friend the news, with Sam and Tito eyeing him about the encounter, having been there firsthand.

"Uh, Otto..." Twister tried to say.

"Yeah?" Otto asked.

"Clio... She, uh... Well, hey, you just saved yourself a call on our phone bill, look at it that way."

"What? Twister, what are you talking about? What's up with Clio?"

"Well... the other night, when we were smoking, after she heard you stood us up, she... uh..."

"She dumped you." Sam said.

Otto, not expecting the terrible news to come so blunt, found himself slightly confused upon hearing the bad news.

"What? How'd that happen?" Otto asked.

"Well, dude, she said that you stood her up a lot of times, and thought you were standing her up again by not showing up to the smoke session." Twister said.

"Are you joking? Why didn't you tell me?"

"No offense, Otto, but dealing with high-tech supercriminals has been slightly more important to us than your romantic issues. We're sorry, but, priorities first." Sam said.

Otto, feeling far too distressed from the news, began to break down and sit on the floor, trying his best not to cry in front of his friends. Reggie, unimpressed with Sam's bluntness, gave him a dirty look.

"What? It's true." Sam said.

"Real smooth, Sammy. Real smooth." Reggie said.

"Otto? Dude? Are you okay?" Twister asked.

"No, Twist. I'm pretty far from okay right now." Otto replied.

"What? Dude, don't sweat it, there's plenty of other chicks to date-"

"What, like Sherry and Trish? Did you forget how those went?"

"Yeah, things got bumpy between you and Sherry, she left one day without saying goodbye, you never heard from her again, then I said 'there's other chicks', then you dated Trish, things got bumpy between you two, she left one day without saying goodbye, then you never heard from _her_ agai- ...Oh."

After Twister finally realized the issue after a long lapse in awareness, Otto's emotional state began to take a turn for the worse, lowering his head in sadness.

"Hey, little cuz, don't worry about that. Ancient Hawaiian saying: 'A palm tree always has plenty of coconuts to-" Tito began to say.

"Save it, Tito. I'm going to sleep now." Otto said.

Otto walked through the garage into his house, immediately making his way to the refrigerator. After reaching inside for something to medicate his sorrow, Otto pulled out a 40 ounce malt liquor, immediately popping the tab off and chugging down its contents, subsequently heading to his bed.

Meanwhile, in the garage, the group continued to show more concern over Otto's state, not usually seeing him in such a rut.

"Um... Is he gonna be okay?" Reggie asked.

"I don't know, dude. He tries to play it straight with a lot of girls, but he still screws up in some way. It usually works out, but not always for long." Twister said.

"There's not much we can do for Otto right now. At the moment, we should probably get back to how we're going after the Rowdy Boyz and see if they're the Rippers or not." Sam said.

"Jeez, Sam. My brother, as big a jerk as he is, just got dumped. Don't you think a little social grace might be needed here?" Reggie asked.

"Otto probably just wants to be left alone right now, and standing around hoping he gets better won't help anything. We're better off trying to focus on the task at hand."

"Ugh! I can't believe you, Sam. I'm going to see Alex Gravity."

Reggie began to storm to her car, leaving Sam confused as what to do about his response.

"What? What'd I say?" Sam asked.

"You _really_ forgot about being friends, didn't you?" Twister asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Dude, you were constantly working at that electronics place, never coming to see us. What happened to us being friends?"

"You guys came to see me almost every day so I could upload your stuff on NewTube, and I did it. I could've just said no, but I did it because you guys were my friends. We still hung out and played hockey, surfed, and skated, didn't we?"

"You only showed up, like, half the time. You were always busy at that store."

"I was the manager, I had to. What, you just expect me to abandon my store just so I could hang out with you guys?"

"No, dude, I just wish you would make time for your friends once and a while."

Twister, not interested in continuing the conversation, walked into the house to catch some sleep after his long night of partying. Sam, all his friends heading on their own tangents, left him alone to think over his actions. Hoping to find answers to his problems, Sam looked to Tito for wisdom.

"Tito, did I really get that out of touch with everybody?" Sam asked.

"Ancient Hawaiian saying: 'All work and no play makes Sam a dull boy'." Tito said.

"Uh, I'm pretty sure that's not a Hawaiian saying."

"But it's true nonetheless. You can't just focus on work all the time and not make room for friends. You gotta learn to have some fun in life, otherwise, what's the point of doing anything?"

Sam began to think over Tito's words, finding the error in his ways, and beginning to think over ways to make amends for his harsh treatments of his friends.

"You're right, Tito. I've been an asshole ever since we started this. Maybe I've been going about this the wrong way." Sam said.

"So, what are you gonna do now, little cuz?" Tito asked.

"Well, we still need to find out what we can on the Rowdy Boyz, you wanna give me a hand? Once we get what we need, we can grill up some hotdurgers for when Otto wakes up, give him something to cheer him up."

After hearing Sam's idea on how to lighten the situation while staying productive on the case, Tito gave a smile towards Sam's new approach.

"Sounds great, little cuz. However, we might need to give the grill some cleaning. I think Otto and Twister tried to smoke some pot off it." Tito said.

* * *

At an undisclosed warehouse just on the outskirts of Ocean Shores, a hideout belonging to the supercriminals known as the Rippers, one of the team's newest members remains inside, the delinquent man known as Lars Rodriguez. Not having anything to do with his time, he took his energy to be expelled on a makeshift firing range, practicing his skills with the weapons in his newly acquired robotic arm.

In the midst of mowing down numerous target dummies with a hailstorm of bullets, Lars' fun moments of mayhem were brought to a pause with the arrival of the Rippers' leader, still dressed in his high-tech suit to conceal his identity.

"I take it you're having fun with your new arm?" The leader asked.

"Hell, yeah, man. I can shoot super-accurate with this thing, and I haven't even gone through half the dummies to learn how. Not to mention I jerked off with this thing three times, and it was like nothing I've ever done before." Lars answered.

"How very... descriptive. Well, I came to let you in on a few things. After a little surveillance, we found out that Otto Rocket has the board you lost."

"Otto's got it, huh? Guess he'll have to give that back pretty soon, huh?"

"Not quite, we're letting him have it."

"What?! What the hell is up with you, man? First you want the Rocket Dork on our side, now you give him my board? Do you just hate me or something?"

"I'm starting to, but that's not why I let him have your board. After you two crashed, the Plutonium core destabilized and makes that particular board very, very, dangerous to whoever uses it, as in 'nuclear bomb' kind of dangerous."

"It turned into a nuke? ...So, then, why are you letting him have it? I thought you were all dedicated to having him on our side?"

"I just received an update that his sister tried to run a story at her 'zine exposing us, and that lowers my trust of Otto significantly."

"Reggie tried to expose us? Little bitch."

"I take it you know her as well?"

"Tried to screw her once. After trying to get a little touchy-feely, she tried to tell me to stop before she called the cops. So, I slapped her in her stupid face. Little skank got me got me sent to jail for 3 weeks and made me register as a sex offender."

"Well, gee, I can't imagine why she'd do that."

"Me neither, man. What chick wouldn't want some of this?"

The leader, finding immense hilarity in Lars' lack of ability to catch onto his sarcasm, tried his best not to burst out laughing.

"You dickhead! Why do I even hang with you _perras_ , again?" Lars said.

"Because, despite your extreme anti-social behavior, you are still somewhat useful to our needs. Now, are you gonna keep complaining about everything you can, or are you gonna accept a brand-new hoverboard that puts your old one to shame?" The leader replied.

"A way to get ahead of that punk? Yes, please."

The leader snapped his fingers, prompting two other Rippers to bring in a large carrying case, setting it on a small table.

"Well, open it. Don't you like opening your Christmas presents early?" The leader asked.

Lars gave a smile and opened the case, revealing the contents inside to be an advanced version of their hoverboards, sporting a far more sleek design and build.

"This board happens to be experimental, so you get to be our guinea pig for this new toy. It has stronger boosters, giving you more speed; several weapons including two miniguns and missile launchers, and a Harrier jet feature." The leader explained.

"What's a Harrier jet feature?" Lars asked.

"It lets you hover in one spot like a Harrier jet, hence the name, until you switch it to traditional board mode, to which then you can skate like normal again."

Eager to try his new piece of equipment, Lars hopped on the board and began to skate around the warehouse, immediately skating onto a half-pipe. After trying out the speed, performing several tricks with each launch off the half-pipe, Lars switched to the Harrier feature after one last jump, now beginning to float in the air.

Satisfied with the feature of his new board, Lars hovered back to the ground again and landed next to the Ripper leader, kicking his board into the air and catching it, holding it under his arm.

"Ooh-hoo-hoo-hoo, now _this_ is what I call a board, _ese_." Lars said.

"Happy now?" The leader asked.

"Hell, yeah, man. I like it already. So, still, why are you gonna kill the Rocket Dork after getting him on our side?"

"I never said I'd kill him. I just said I'd give him the dangerous board. As I was explaining, if the Plutonium core is damaged in anyway, the contingency protocols activate and it allows me to destroy the board remotely before the board goes full nuclear. Think of it like destroying a nuke without actually making it go nuclear."

"So what good is that against Otto?"

"The explosion's still good enough to kill him."

"But why all the point of this? I still don't get what your plan is."

"This isn't a plan, it's just a precaution. Besides, you don't need to know what my plan is. You just need to know how to take orders and how to like it. Speaking of which, we have a new mission tonight, and you're our point man."

"A new mission, huh? About time. I've been sitting around here long enough. So, what're we blowing up?"

"You'll see. Just one thing, however. I know you're more than eager to play with that robotic arm of yours, but this is strictly a property damage mission. No killing."

"What?! No killing? Are you serious?"

"Do I not sound serious?"

After taking a moment to accept the undesired condition, Lars finally brought himself to agree to the terms in order to get some time away from the warehouse.

"Okay, man. No killing. I got it." Lars said.

"Good boy. Now, get some more practice with that board. We move out at 11:00 PM."

* * *

While the Rippers made their plans for another mission, Reggie made her way to Alex Gravity's office, and Sam researched the Rowdy Boyz, one other individual had his own troubles to face. That individual is Raymundo Rocket, heading into the hot Californian sun to make amends with his son once and for all.

As he continued on his noble quest to repair years of damage on the relationship with his son that was once quite healthy, very hard troubles came to Ray on his journey. With the hot Californian sun beating down on his back, his body excessively perspiring to compensate for the heat tearing away at his body, Ray began to grow weaker and weaker with every step, beginning to slouch in his walk with every minute of solar heat cooking his body alive.

Finally no longer to take any more abuse from the heat of the sun burning him alive, Ray fell to the asphalt sidewalk, breathing heavily, crawling his way to his son's house, still determined to make things right with his son and be seen as a good father in his eyes. With the sun continuing to burn his body from the outside in, his drive began to wear down and down, his life force draining with it.

He knew that this was the end. He knew that he had failed his chance to apologize to his son, and never will Otto never know how much his father cares for him.

" _Otto... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to treat you this way... Forgive me... Please... Forgive me..._ " Ray let out.

In the midst of his seeming dying breaths, a car horn honked to his side, prompting him to look to the source of the horn. Looking to the horn, Ray saw a car pulling beside him, with Noelani inside, opening the door for him.

"Honey, you do know that we have a car, right?" Noelani asked.

" _Oh... Right... Thanks..._ " Ray said.

Picking himself off the ground again, Ray stepped inside his car, feeling embarrassed over his overexaggerated affair from walking across Ocean Shores when he could have just driven instead.

In the midst of his embarrassment, Noelani handed Ray a water bottle, which Ray gladly took and chugged down, beginning to rehydrate his body after losing so many fluids from sweating out in the hot summer sun.

"What would I do without you, Noelani?" Ray asked.


	11. Chapter 10: Life in Freefall

**CHAPTER 10: LIFE IN FREEFALL**

Trying to catch whatever sleep he can, Otto Rocket tosses and turns endlessly in the sheets of his bed, unable to turn himself unconscious for a good 8 hours. While normally, after such a party, Otto would be easy to fall asleep and rest, recent news has prevented him from doing so.

Not a few minutes ago, Otto got word that Clio, his significant other, had left him the other night. For good. As Otto had many troubles trying to meet commitments, keeping a partner was not an easy task for him, and he tried to make things work as best as he could. It seems, however, that his best efforts are not good enough.

In the past, Otto had dated many women, nearly everyone in Ocean Shores, and each and every one of his relationships had failed. Each and every time that he tried to look for what was wrong in his relationships, the only person he had to blame was himself. While Otto may act self-absorbed many times in his life, he is a man who genuinely cares about others, and no one deserves the pain of not feeling loved.

Finally, unable to stand not being able to sleep, Otto decided to take his energy to be expended elsewhere than his bed, continuing to toss and turn aimlessly. Getting out of his bed, Otto began to head to the bedroom of Twister, wanting to bring his best friend to his destination with him.

"Hey, Twist, you up?" Otto asked.

" _Ugh... I am now, dude. What's up?_ " Twister asked.

"I can't sleep. You up for some skating at ZGZ?"

" _Dude... I'm really tired right now. I just wanna sleep right now._ "

"C'mon, dude. I can't sleep, I gotta skate, and I'm not skating alone."

" _I'm tired, dude._ "

"Twister, Clio broke up with me. Do you understand that? Clio broke up with me, I can't sleep, and it's your fault I can't sleep. You owe me."

"What? How is that my fault?"

"You're the one who broke me the news. You're up now, you coming or not?"

Not having any more excuses to stay in bed, Twister got out of bed and began to join Otto in heading to Zero Gravity Zone. The two headed to the garage, grabbing their skateboards and beginning to head out. Sam and Tito, continuing to work together in the garage, took notice of the two grabbing their skateboards and shirking off their much-needed sleep.

"You guys are going skating? You barely slept." Sam said.

"Tell it to Otto, man. He's the one who wants to go." Twister said.

"Well, why don't you stay and sleep?"

"I don't know, he insisted I go. I guess we'll be back later, so, yeah."

Otto began to skate off to Zero Gravity Zone, gaining a head start and nearly leaving his friend behind. Twister, trying his best to catch up to Otto, began to skate off as well, trying to catch up.

"Hey, Otto! Wait up!" Twister shouted.

In the garage, Sam and Tito, curious towards Otto's spontaneous need to skate, found themselves wondering further on his actions.

"What do you think that's all about?" Sam asked.

"No idea, little cuz." Tito said.

"Think he's still strung up on Clio?"

"Could be, I don't know."

"It's really weird. Otto never struck me as a romantic, especially not one who gets strung up like that."

"Well, I had heard that Clio was the longest time he had a girl. I guess maybe he thought that was the one."

"In any case, all this gossip is starting to make me hungry. You wanna take a break and get the ingredients for the hotdurgers?"

"Sounds good to me, cuz. I'll drive."

Sam and Tito, taking a break from their further investigation on the Rowdy Boyz, began to step inside Tito's car, driving down to the store and purchase the necessary items to make hotdurgers for dinner. With Otto and Twister heading to skate and Sam and Tito heading for food, with Reggie leaving earlier to meet with Alex Gravity, the house was left unattended and empty.

This was a fact not known to Ray Rocket, who began heading towards the house with his wife Noelani driving him to the front. As the car rolled to a steady halt, Ray let out a deep breath, preparing himself to finally make things right with his son. Noelani, trying her best to be supportive of Ray, gave as much encouragement as she could provide before he went through with his deed.

"It's okay, honey. I'm right here." Noelani said.

"I know, I'm fine." Ray said.

The two stepped out of the car, heading to the front door. Ray rung the doorbell, anxiously awaiting an answer from his son. After a few minutes of waiting, no one came to answer the door, leaving Ray continuing to stand at the entrance alone.

Ray rung the doorbell again, hoping that someone would come and answer the door. After another period of waiting, Ray was left with no answer yet again, leading him to take a different approach to leaving his apologies. Taking a piece of paper and pen out of his pocket, a utility he always keeps on his persons to take orders at work, Ray began to write a note, reading the note aloud as he did so.

"Hi, Otto. I know you don't want to talk to me right now, or maybe not at all anymore, but I wanna tell you something. You're right. You are right. I shouldn't butt myself into your life, trying to tell you how to live. I'm sorry. I wanted you to be successful, to be better than me, but I couldn't see that it's not about what I want. It's about what _you_ want. It's about living your life how _you_ wanna live it. I wasn't respectful of that. I'm sorry. I tried to push you away from your passions and tried to push you to be something you're not. I wasn't supportive of you and your own decisions. I punished you when I should've had a talk with you about how to deal with your problems instead, to give you advice on what to do in hard times. I took the easy way out as a parent. I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to help make the transition easy when Noelani came home to live with us. I should've understood your feelings rather than focus too much on my own. I understand now that the marriage wasn't just about my own happiness, it was about yours too. I'm sorry. I'm sorry about all of it. I left this note to say that I'm not going to run your life anymore. I'll leave you alone. It's what I should've done when you left. I left this note to say goodbye and good luck, and you have my full support on whatever you want to do with your life, no matter what. I love you, son." Ray read.

After writing down his emotional letter and leaving it in the mailbox, Ray began to shed a few tears after delivering his heart-wrenching speech with it. Noelani, trying her best to comfort him in his state of depression, rushed to help him right away.

"Ray..." Noelani started to say.

"Forget it, Noelani, let's just go home. I did all I could right now." Ray said.

Following his request, the two got back in the car and began their drive back home. As the ride continued on, Ray sat in morose silence for the entire trip, believing that his son was intentionally not answering the door, leaving him without a chance to apologize.

For the rest of the ride, Ray did not speak a single word, not even looking in Noelani's direction during the trip.

* * *

At the massive theme park known as Zero Gravity Zone, the day continues to go by busily for the employees of the park, and enjoyably for the skaters in the park. As much as the skaters enjoy themselves and as tired as the employees become, there is one more person entering the building that is not aligned with either of these groups, having only their own interests in mind.

That person is Reggie Rocket, heading inside to speak to Alex Gravity, the owner of the theme park chain and see about undoing her wrongful firing. Stepping inside the park, Reggie began to head straight for the front desk. While on normal days, she would be admiring the decor and the tempting skating courses, wanting to join in the fun, there was something far more pressing on her mind than skating at the moment.

"Excuse me, could I speak to Alex Gravity?" Reggie asked.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid Mr. Gravity is busy at the moment, ma'am. If you have a complaint to make, I can get my immediate manager to speak with you-" The clerk tried to say.

"I'm not here to file a complaint. It's about my job. I got wrongfully fired and I wanna talk to him. I'm Reggie Rocket."

The clerk complied with Reggie's request, contacting Alex Gravity's office about the affair.

" _What's the problem? I'm busy._ " Alex Gravity asked.

"Hi, sir, I've got a Reggie Rocket here to see you about what she says is a wrongful firing. Does this mean anything to you?" The clerk asked.

" _Reggie Rocket? The girl from_ Ocean Shores Today _?_ "

"Uh... I guess so, sir."

" _Send her in. I'll talk to her._ "

As Reggie led to the office of Alex Gravity, Otto and Twister entered Zero Gravity Zone; Otto anxious to let out his inner stresses, and Twister groggy and fighting off his sleep deprivation.

"I still can't believe I let you talk me into going skating, dude." Twister said.

"I need this, man. Just come on." Otto said.

Otto and Twister displayed their passes to the security guard, allowing them entry into the skate park. Heading right into the pit, Otto began aggressively skating down the slope, trying to let out his frustrations. Twister, trying to keep up, began skating as well, but barely able to stay firm on his board due to his tiredness.

After a few minutes of skating in the concrete pit, Otto's aggressive streak of skating came to a quick and abrupt end. Twister, not able to concentrate on skating anymore, fell asleep upright on his board, rolling down the pit aimlessly. Otto, too frustrated to notice Twister rolling out in front of him, crashed right into him, leaving the both of them laying on the ground in annoyance.

"Twister! What the hell was that, man?!" Otto yelled.

"I'm tired, dude. I told you I wasn't up for skating." Twister said.

"Weak, dude. The Twister I knew would be all over any chance to go out for some shreddin'."

"Well, the Otto I knew wouldn't get all caught up over my cousin ditching him!"

As Otto and Twister continued their bickering, another figure came up to the two, catching their attention immediately. The figure was Dax Jett, watching the two continue to fight immaturely, gaining amusement over the matter.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything important?" Dax asked.

"Dax, man, what're you doing here?" Otto asked.

"The Prodigy's ZGZ backed, remember? This is our home base. Since you guys are with us, how about I show you the executive suite?"

"Does it have a bed? I need some rest." Twister asked.

"We've got a couch. It's not much, but it is _very_ comfortable."

Otto and Twister began to get up and follow Dax to the Prodigy team's hangout; Otto hoping to find another means to release his frustrations and Twister hoping to find a place to sleep.

* * *

Meanwhile, the front desk clerk escorted Reggie to Alex Gravity's office, leading her to a large room with Alex Gravity sitting behind a large, luxurious desk, awaiting her arrival.

"Thank you, son, you can go now." Alex Gravity said.

The clerk complied with Alex Gravity's request and left the room, leaving Reggie and Alex to talk alone. Alex, making the meeting more relaxing, pulled out a bottle of whiskey, pulling out two glasses with it.

"Come, Mrs. Rocket. Have a seat. Care for a drink?" Alex Gravity asked.

"No, thanks, Mr. Gravity. I'm here strictly for business. And it's _Ms._ Rocket." Reggie said.

"Ah, yes, a wrongful firing, as you say. Well, I may have only purchased _Ocean Shores Today_ , but I am more than interested in its employees, both current and former. Tell me, what was the basis of this wrongful firing, Ms. Rocket?"

"I found a story bigger than anything anyone'll ever lay eyes on, and my editor called me a liar and fired me immediately after."

"My, my, fired and called a liar? That's quite an accusation. What exactly was the basis of this story?"

"My brother found a skateboard that defies gravity. And he stole it from a group of criminals that blew up my friend's store."

Alex Gravity took a moment to process the information that he heard, carefully playing back the words in his head to fully comprehend the situation.

"Come again?" Alex Gravity asked.

"Here, I think it's better if I show you." Reggie said.

* * *

In the back of Zero Gravity Zone, Dax led Otto and Twister to the back, taking them to the VIP area, exclusive to the Prodigy team. Otto and Twister, not expecting such a luxurious area set aside to their team, found themselves awestruck to the area.

"Gentlemen, welcome to the Oval Office." Dax said.

[Soundtrack Cue: Method Man & Redman - Tear It Off]

Inside the VIP area of Zero Gravity Zone, no expense has been spared for the park's sponsored team. A giant surround sound system played hip-hop music, much to the enjoyment of the occupants and giving relaxing feelings to the room.

Accompanying the stereo system was a massive 4K TV was mounted on the wall, playing numerous kung-fu movies, with Mike imitating the protagonists' moves on a punching bag, attempting to perfect his fighting techniques.

In the corner, amidst several tools and parts, Jared continued his work on numerous skateboards, ensuring each was good for use and perfected to his standards. Being far too caught up in his work, Jared took almost no notice to the other people in the room.

Relaxing in a hot tub sitting in another corner was Wes, relaxing by himself with a glass of champagne, seeking to find a more refined way to relax rather than the adolescent hobbies of his teammates. Upon noticing Dax, Otto, and Twister entering the room, Wes raised his champagne glass to greet the three.

"Well, boys, what do you think?" Dax asked.

"Well, Dax, it's cool and all, but..." Otto began to say.

"Hot tub, yes please!" Twister said.

Twister, wasting no time to find a nice sleeping spot in the hot tub, stripped down to his underwear, laying inside the hot tub, trying to fall asleep as fast as he could. Wes, taking notice of Twister trying to relax himself, decided to take the opportunity to prank him.

"You know I'm naked in here, right?" Wes asked.

Upon hearing the news revealed to him, Twister immediately jumped out of the hot tub in disgust, groaning at the news. Wes, on the other hand, laughed hysterically at his reaction.

"No, no, I'm kidding. I have a bathing suit on. It's fine." Wes said.

"No way, man. I don't trust you." Twister said.

"Here, let me show you."

"NO, NO, NO, DON'T-"

Wes stood up inside the hot tub, disregarding Twister's protests, revealing that he was indeed wearing a swimsuit and not naked as he joked. After seeing the truth for himself, Twister gave a sigh of relief and sat back down in the hot tub, with Wes sitting back down as well.

"You've got a sick sense of humor, dude." Twister said.

"You ought to see Mike on April Fools Day. I didn't think any of us would survive the first time." Wes joked.

As Twister and Wes continued their friendly conversation, Dax gave Otto a tour of the VIP lounge, showing off the numerous luxuries that Zero Gravity Zone had to offer.

"I gotta hand it to you, Dax, you're like the gift that keeps on giving." Otto said.

"Well, I aim to please. Of course, all of this is just noise for when we have nothing better to do. I'm in it for skating." Dax said.

"Yeah, I know. You were talking about all that last night."

Mike took notice of the two talking about the benefits of the sponsorship, giving his own opinions of the benefits.

"Your loss, Dax. Where else can I get all the kung-fu movies I want, and all the training equipment I want?" Mike asked.

"My head's always towards enjoying the ride, not going out and picking fights. You've got to learn to be more accepting in life and going with the flow, my friend." Dax said.

"Well, where's the fun in that?"

"You'll just have to see for yourself."

Dax and Otto came to Jared, who was continuing to work on numerous skateboards, nearing completion on his next one. After screwing in the trucks into the board, Jared held up his finished project in pride, glad to finally accomplish completing building the skateboard. Otto, being one of the biggest skateboard enthusiasts in existence, inspected the board for himself.

"Like what you see?" Jared asked.

"Dude... A Real deck, Thunder trucks, and Spitfire wheels?" Otto asked.

"Yep. I only use the best of the best parts. In the shop, they call me Dr. Frankenstein."

"Why's that?"

"Because I give my creations life. Give that bad boy for a spin and see for yourself."

Otto dropped the board to the ground and immediately hopped on it, skating down the room to try the board out. After numerous sharp turns at high speeds, beginning to circle around the room, Otto jumped on a rail, beginning to grind on it. With the board's weight light enough to stay aerial and heavy enough to stay balaced just right, landing a grind was far more easier than he had managed before.

"So, Otto, what do you think?" Jared asked.

"Dr. Frankenstein, huh? I'd say you earned the title. This thing's awesome." Otto said.

"Thank you very much. Hey, I noticed that Alva board you won last night. It's real nice, but it could use some work. With some heavier trucks and thicker wheels, I could get that bad boy even better with my magic."

"Yeah, sure. Here you go. Hit me up when you finish."

"No problem."

As Jared began to go to work on Otto's board, Dax continued his tour of the VIP lounge.

"So, you wanna borrow one of our boards, talk some bullshit over a half-pipe?" Otto asked.

"You don't wanna chill back here for a bit? I know ZGZ's a great park, but we just met up again. I haven't even showed you the arcade games yet." Dax said.

"Well, dude, I haven't gotten any sleep after that party and I just wanna blow off some steam."

"Blow off steam? What, you still hung up about Randy and his group of morons?"

"No, dude, it's- Aw, forget it."

"No, come on, dude, you can tell me. We're all pals here."

Otto sat on the couch, mentally preparing himself to share his unpleasant feelings with Dax. Dax, grabbing two beers from the mini-fridge sitting next to the fridge, handed one to Otto while beginning to drink his own. With the alcohol giving him more encouragement to open his feelings, Otto finally spoke out his issues.

"Well, dude... I just found out my girlfriend dumped me." Otto said.

* * *

[Soundtrack Cue End]

Meanwhile, back in the office of Alex Gravity, the aforementioned owner of Zero Gravity Zone began inspecting the photographs taken by Reggie carefully, beginning to think over her story many times over.

"This is certainly interesting news, Ms. Rocket. However, your former employer did make a very good point that these photographs could easily be doctored. How do I know for certain that I can believe you?" Alex Gravity asked.

"I can show you the board. We have it." Reggie said.

"Interesting. I'll tell you what, bring the board to me, and, not only will I see about getting you your job back, you and I will both go to the police over this matter ourselves. We can both get them together."

"Well, about that, part of our plan is that we can't call the cops yet. Even if we show the board, the Rippers are another deal. We don't have any evidence of them, or anything usable. We want to catch them in the act, and we're afraid that calling the cops will scare them off. Since my friend had his store blown up by these guys, we want to catch them and get them back."

"I see. Well, maybe I can help you in some way there. Bring the board, and I'll see what I can do to help you, starting with getting you your job back."

"Speaking of that, as a reporter, or, former reporter, I can't help but still be curious as to why you bought out _Ocean Shores Today_. What'd you buy it for?"

"Well, like I said, they sell so well here at Zero Gravity Zone, so I wanted to make sure my customers are happy. Besides, owning the company just makes it easier on me for having to supply my park."

"Still, buying out a whole 'zine? Plus, it's kind of weird, considering that _Ocean Shores Today_ is pretty much the biggest company still left in Ocean Shores. That almost puts you as the owner of most of the economy of the town, right?"

"I suppose it does, yes, but I was never one for money. My eyes have always been on keeping others happy. Speaking of which, as long as you can provide physical evidence of the board, I can get you your job back. Think you can get it for me?"

"Done deal. I'll be back with that board. Thank you, Mr. Gravity."

"But of course, Ms. Rocket."

As Reggie walked out the door with Alex Gravity closing the door behind her, Mr. Gravity walked back to his desk, taking another drink of his whiskey. Upon finishing his drink, Alex Gravity pressed a button on his telephone, contacting a private number.

" _Yes, Mr. Gravity?_ " A voice answered.

"Meet me in my office, after business hours." Alex Gravity said.

" _It might be a while. We've got plans._ "

"Then change them. Remember who's paying your bills."

" _...Of course, sir, Mr. Gravity._ "

* * *

Back in the VIP lounge, Twister and Wes found themselves getting more friendly in conversation, the soothing temperature of the hot tub relaxing the both of them to get more personal in their conversations.

"So, like, dude, I'm telling you, oatmeal raisin cookies are, like, the most underrated thing ever. I eat 'em all the time when me and Otto blaze." Twister said.

"Oatmeal raisin cookies? Why those?" Wes asked.

"Well, check it out, when you hear 'oatmeal raisin', you're not thinking it's gonna be good and stuff, you're gonna think it's all bland and gross. But when you bite in an oatmeal raisin cookie, it's all soft, it's sweet, it's mushy, it's delicious."

"So you don't care for chocolate chip cookies?"

"No, don't get me wrong, I love chocolate chip cookies as much as the next guy, but it's nowhere near the same as an oatmeal raisin cookie when you're high. I'm telling you, it's something else."

"It has been a while since I've had pot. Judging by your... speech patterns, I take it you use it quite frequently?"

"Yeah, me and Otto smoke all the time. We grow it ourselves."

"You two must be good friends, right?"

"Well... he's been really sketchy on me, but yeah, for the most part."

"'Sketchy', huh? How's that?"

"Well, first of all, I was really tired from the party last night, and I just wanted to get some sleep, but Otto got all bent up over his ex-girlfriend and dragged me here."

"Oh, now that's something I can relate to. One time, Dax told me he wanted to go surfing with him, but it was 2 in the morning, and I was way too tired. For whatever reason, I decided to go with him, and the water was freezing cold that day. Dax didn't care at all, but my balls were going up into my stomach."

Twister gave a hearty laugh after hearing Wes' story.

"Dude, you have no idea. One time, Otto wanted to surf out in a huge-ass storm, and he dragged me along, too. He didn't do it, but he got in huge trouble with his dad." Twister said.

"So, was that a normal occurrence for him?" Wes asked.

"Pretty much. Otto never really had the best relationship with his dad. I mean, sometimes they could be best buds, but other times you'd swear they were worst enemies."

"Wow. That's something."

"Tell me about it."

Meanwhile, while Twister and Wes were bonding quite well over their stories of hilarious antics, Otto, after several beers, was less than pleased with his current emotional state. Not able to keep dealing with having yet another failed relationship in his life, Otto began to start breaking down, shaking his hands violently and stomping his feet anxiously.

"I don't get it, man, I really don't get it. I try and I try and I try, but I can't get any of my relationships right. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, I try to make time for other people, as hard as it is, but I really try, I don't-" Otto ranted.

Before Otto could continue his rant any further, Dax gave him hearty pat on the back, trying to comfort his new friend as best as he could.

"Hey, man, don't sweat it that much. Maybe she wasn't the one for you. Hell, maybe you don't have a 'one'." Dax said.

"So, what? I'm just supposed to be alone forever? All around me, people were getting girls, moving out, living good lives, all happy and shit, but I couldn't get any of that. I mean, I love my sports, but it doesn't support me at all." Otto asked.

"You won't be alone forever, man. You got friends. Hell, you're right here, you're not alone right now, are you?"

"Well... no."

"Not everybody has to have that one person that makes 'em happy. Sure, some people have one; but some people have a few, some have a lot, and some don't have any at all. Look at me, I don't have anybody that takes me to where I need to be emotionally."

"What about Wes? Your boyfriend?"

"He's definitely my best friend, and we've done it a few times, but I don't think I'd call him my boyfriend. Like I said, I never care about romance, and barely sex. I only care to live my life on the edge. That's what makes me happy, in the same kind of 'happy' that some people are together."

Dax began to help Otto off the couch, beginning to take him somewhere to lift his spirits.

"Tell you what, come on with me. I've got an idea that'll cheer you right up." Dax said.

"Come on, man. I wanted to skate, but I'm drunk right now. I'd rather just-" Otto tried to say.

"No, no, no, I'm not taking 'no' for an answer. You need this, trust me. Besides, I've done this drunk at least 3 times. Hey, Prodigy! Jumping time!"

The rest of the Prodigy team, more than eagar to join Dax on the excursion, all began dropping their activities and began suiting up to join him. Wes, hopping out of the hot tub, threw Twister his clothes, encouraging him to join them.

"Get dressed. You're going to love this." Wes said.

"What are we, going to outer space?" Twister asked.

* * *

As the Prodigy team began their trip to an unspecified area, heading to an unspecified activity that would supposedly lift Otto's spirits, Sam and Tito made their way back to the house, arriving back with fresh ingredients for dinner for the group once everyone arrived back from their missions. Tito immediately began pulling ingredients out of the bags, preparing to get cooking, while Sam headed back into the garage, continuing his research on Randy and the Rowdy Boyz.

"Hey, cuz, you gonna help?" Tito asked.

"Yeah, just a sec, just wanna get this search going." Sam said.

"What are you doing in there, hacking the White House?"

"Not exactly. I managed to find out some of the names of the Rowdy Boyz, and I wanted to get more info on them."

"What info are you looking for?"

"Well, after a little digging on social media, I found out their leader's full name is Randy Raucous. Since Otto says that he's a troublemaker, I wanted to find out if there's anything in the legal system that matches the M.O. of the Rippers."

"'M.O.'?"

" _Modus operandi_. Basically, I'm just looking to find any laws they broke that match up to what the Rippers did to my store, and see if I can find any known accomplices with that."

"Sounds like you're becoming quite the detective, little cuz."

"Well, not really. Most of these skills you can pick up in any detective show or movie. I had plenty to watch in the store. Oh, that reminds me, I need to see if my insurance company came back with me on my claim."

"Well, before you get to that, cuz, think you can help me out with the food?"

"Yeah, sure, be right there."

Sam left the computer to run its search, leaving it temporarily to assist Tito in his cooking duties. Heading outside, Sam helped Tito scrape numerous charred remains of marijuana leaves from the grill, hoping to make it usable again for non-cannabis infused eatery.

"You know, I figured that the two would be huge smokers, but I did not think that they would try their hand at cooking with weed. They shoulda talked to the master." Tito said.

"You cook with weed?"

"Why do you think I love to cook?"

"Heh. Think I can get some recipes?"

"Well, cuz, I'd be happy to give you some, but I keep forgetting them after I cook."

"Gee, I can't imagine why."

As Sam and Tito shared a laugh together, a loud beeping sound began coming from the garage, signalling Sam to head towards it. After sitting down and reading the results of his search, Sam began to find himself growing very satisfied with the results he was seeing.

"What is it, cuz? Anything useful?" Tito asked.

"Tito, I think we got them." Sam said.

* * *

A long while later, in a plane flying several thousand feet in the air, Otto and Twister, accompanied by the Prodigy team, all sat aboard the plane; the Prodigy awaiting the right moment for their sport, and Otto and Twister growing anxious from the experience, never having been in a sport quite like this.

"What's the matter, you never jump out of a plane before?" Dax asked.

"No, man, never did that." Otto said.

"Well, don't worry about it, you're gonna love this a lot."

"But what if our chute doesn't open? Or if we don't pull it in time? Or we-" Twister began to ask.

"What's the matter back there, you two chicken?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, man, don't be wimps, we do this all the time. It's awesome." Jared said.

"It's the best high you can get, take my word for it." Dax said.

"Well... Alright, if you say so." Otto said.

As the conversation came to an end, the doorway to the plane opened up, signalling the group that it was time to jump. Mike, the wildest of the bunch, immediately jumped out first.

"Give it to me, baby!" Mike called.

Jared, ready to go next, followed through with his jump.

"See you guys at the bottom!" Jared called.

Wes, ready to follow his team, jumped next.

"Don't keep me waiting!" Wes called.

Dax, having invited Otto and Twister, brought them to the door, preparing them for the jump off the plane. Otto and Twister, still anxious over the experience of jumping out of a plane, were still not eager to jump out as well.

"Come on, this is the best thing you can get out of life, just hit it!" Dax said.

"I don't know about this, man!" Twister said.

"Think of it this way, imagine that the high you get from this is like the best weed you've ever smoked. How's that sound?"

Twister thought over the comparison for a moment, now contemplating on jumping and loosening his anxieties.

"Don't you wanna get high?" Dax asked.

"Yeah, I wanna get high!" Twister said.

"Then what are you waiting for?!"

Twister, finally ready to fulfill the promise of a high, jumped out of the plane, falling straight towards the Earth, catching up with the rest of the Prodigy. Now remained Otto and Dax, still behind in the plane.

"I don't know about this, dude. I'm still a little buzzed!" Otto said.

"Otto, don't worry about it. You gotta learn to just let it go, to ride the ride!" Dax said.

Dax, demonstrating his philosophy, jumped backwards out of the plane, heading to the ground with his back turned. Otto, impressed with his attitude, began to contemplate jumping out with him, not sure what to do.

After much hard and careful thinking, Otto made his decision.

"Just ride the ride. Okay." Otto said.

Finally, Otto jumped out of the plane.

[Soundtrack Cue: Limp Bizkit - Walking Away]

Beginning his fall out of the plane with a single step, Otto began heading face-forwards towards the Earth itself, the air rushing over him at speeds he'd never imagined, through his fingers like a loving grip, through his hair like a light caress, and over his face like a gentle kiss.

While moments ago, Otto had many anxieties and skepticism about jumping out of the plane; now, he can't understand why he didn't jump sooner. What a wonderful feeling this was, to be falling towards the Earth like a human bullet; speeds like nothing he'd ever felt before, the rush moving though him like he was power incarnate.

This is the edge, and, even though just for the moment, he was living on it.

After falling through the sky for a good while, Otto finally began to catch up to Dax, awaiting him at a lower altitude for his reaction.

"What'd I tell you? Like nothing you've ever done before, right?" Dax asked.

"Hell, yeah, man! This is amazing!" Otto screamed.

Otto began laughing cheerfully and playfully screaming, fully embracing the powerful moment of falling through the skies. Never had he ever felt so free, and never will he ever know a rush like this again in his life.

"I feel invincible, man! This is great!" Otto shouted.

"It's the ultimate high, man! Now you're riding the ride!" Dax said.

Otto and Dax began rocketing towards the Earth, beginning to catch up to the other members of the Prodigy team. Within seconds, the two finally caught up to the rest, beginning to form in a circle.

"Twister, how is it?!" Otto shouted.

"Better than any kush I've ever done!" Twister shouted.

"Well, you boys better get your fill of it now, we've gotta pull our chutes in about 2 more minutes! Otherwise, all of us are gonna be street pizza!" Jared shouted.

"That's right, boys, grip your chutes and get ready!" Dax shouted.

As the group began to near the ground, the Earth coming into fuller and fuller view to the skydiving group, the team all began to hold on to their chute strings, ready to pull and activate their parachutes and safely land to the ground.

"Ready?!" Dax shouted.

The ground neared and neared, giving a sense of impending doom to those not well-prepared for such a dive. The team, being prepared for the fall, all readied to pull their chutes.

" _ **PULL!**_ " Dax shouted.

The team pulled their chute strings, activating their parachutes and beginning their slow and safe descent towards the ground. With the ground coming very close to contact with the group, their seeming quick and suspenseful fall quickly turned to a slow and peaceful one, allowing the team to safely land on the ground without seriously being injured.

[Soundtrack Cue End]

With their skydive ended and their high with it, the group all cheered in excitement down from their high, all excited and happy having experienced the fun of their skydiving session. Otto and Twister, the newcomers to the group, found themselves the loudest of the group, never experiencing a greater feat in their lives.

"So, Otto, feeling better now?" Dax asked.

"Hell, yeah, man! Thanks for this, dude. Who needs Clio? And for that matter, who needs anybody? You're the coolest." Otto said.

After hearing Otto's praise of Dax and his seeming impressiveness, Twister found himself less than amused, believing that he no longer held the 'best friend' status with Otto, an accomplishment that he had held for years.

"I appreciate that, man. Having you on the team was definitely the best decision we ever made." Dax said.

"So, you guys up for some skating tonight? Or do we have another party to crash?" Otto asked.

"Well, this time, me and the boys gotta handle something with ZGZ. Kind of a sponsor thing."

"So? I'm on the team, right? I can go, right?"

"Well, ZGZ can be pretty picky on new recruits. I don't want 'em to go hard on you. Besides, it's all just mainly paperwork and other boring shit. I don't wanna bring you down with that. So just head home and get some sleep. We'll party twice as hard."

"Sounds cool, Dax. See you 'round."

As Dax and the Prodigy began to head back to Zero Gravity Zone and complete their sponsorship duties, Otto and Twister began to make their way back to the main city of Ocean Shores and get home, hoping to finally catch their much-needed rest.

While Otto was still enjoying his high from the exciting feeling of falling through the sky, Twister was beginning to grow skeptical of Otto's new friendship with Dax Jett. While he certainly was a friendly man, and he was more than welcoming to the two towards his team, Twister could not help but feel a certain jealousy towards the two.

Twister does not say a word about it, and he says very little the entire trip home.


	12. Chapter 11: Point Break

**CHAPTER 11: POINT BREAK**

At the poorly-maintained home of Otto Rocket and Twister Rodriguez, as Sam and Tito began working hard on the computer, having potentially found the identity of the Rippers; Reggie walked into the house, joining the three.

"Hey, guys, find anything?" Reggie asked.

"I think so. We took a look at those 'Rowdy Boyz' guys that Otto had some trouble with, and I think I found some information on them that matches what we might find in the Rippers." Sam said.

"And dinner'll be ready in a little bit. I'm making hotdurgers." Tito added.

"Cool. By the way, I had a talk with Alex Gravity. He says that if I can bring him a hoverboard, he'll believe my story and he'll help us with finding the Rippers." Reggie said.

"What?! Are you crazy?!" Sam asked.

"What?"

"What do you mean, 'what'? You want to just give the board away, getting rid of all our evidence?"

"I think we can trust Alex Gravity. He seems alright."

"That doesn't matter. We still need to keep as few people knowing about this as possible, and we're not losing the board."

"I told him I can't give him the board. I have a better idea, especially now that you've told me that you know who the Rippers are."

"First of all, we don't 'know' that these people are the Rippers, we're just guessing, albeit guessing carefully. Second, what is your idea?"

"He said that if he had physical evidence of a board, he'd believe me and help us. We don't have to give him _the_ board, we just have to give him _a_ board."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"If these guys are the Rippers, they'll have the boards. We get one of their boards, we'll have evidence."

"If they are the Rippers, we won't bother about finding help, we can take them in ourselves at that point."

"That still doesn't get me my job back. I'll need one of the boards to prove it all."

"Fair enough. If these are the guys, and we catch them, we'll help you in getting your job back."

"Thanks, Sammy."

"Don't thank me yet. We still have to actually catch these guys. Speaking of which, I need to ask, how do you feel about sitting in a car for a few hours?"

"Uh, what for?"

"In order to find out if these are our guys, we need to stake them out, like in the movies. We catch them in the act, we can prove they're the Rippers. I could use a partner."

"A partner, huh? Are you sure this isn't just a way of asking me on a date? I'm not sure I'll say yes, considering how insensitive you were earlier."

Not prepared for the conversation to take a turn towards unfamiliar territory, Sam began to stutter and blush at the suggestion, not knowing what to say next.

"What? I- Uh... I didn't mean it like... Well, uh..." Sam stuttered.

"Really? Come on, Sam, I was just kidding around. What's with the panic attack?" Reggie asked.

"Well, ancient Hawaiian saying: A coconut will never know the cool breeze of the ocean if it never comes down from the tree." Tito said.

As typical of Tito's Hawaiian words of wisdom, no one in the room understood the meaning of his proverb, leaving him disappointed at being misunderstood.

"Well, alright, Sammy. I'll help you out on this stakeout. Who're we spying on?" Reggie asked.

"The Rowdy Boyz. We're heading out now if you're ready."

"Right now? I just got back."

"If we don't catch them now, we won't have another chance to catch them again. That means that no one else is safe from these guys. We want to catch them in the act."

"Sounds cool to me. What about dinner?"

"Way ahead of you, cuz." Tito said.

Tito held up a plate of hotdurgers, fresh off the grill and ready to eat. Reggie, hungry and needing the energy to be ready for the stakeout, immediately grabbed two and began chowing them down, much to Tito's impression.

"Wow, little cuz, you sure can put it away." Tito said.

"Yeah, I haven't eaten all day, I'm really hungry. So, how're we gonna tell Otto and Twister we left on a stakeout?" Reggie asked.

"We left a note. Given how passive they can get, I think a note should do fine." Sam said.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the back offices of Zero Gravity Zone, the now 5 men known as the Rippers stood before their employer, Alex Gravity, starting a meeting with the eponymous owner of Zero Gravity Zone. With many eyes beginning to fall on the group and many clues to the group being left, their ambiguous plans were left under danger of being put to an end.

"Good money, I pay you good money, and this is what I get in return for my services?" Alex Gravity asked.

"Mr. Gravity, even with such a low-populated city, this kind of work takes time. We've been-" The leader began to say.

"No, no, let me tell you what you've been doing. You got rid of _one_ store, only _one_ store; and, now, people are starting to look into you. They find you, they find me, and I will _not_ be found. Do you understand?"

"We know Otto Rocket's onto you. We're working on him. Once we get him, we shouldn't have any more problems. Besides, that 'one' store happens to be the only major business left in this whole city, the one and only electronics store. Get rid of that, we're bound to have people clearing out faster."

"And after destroying that one store, you managed to have one of your men, a new recruit, if I understand; discovered by a goddamn stoner, and jeopardizing our entire operation!"

"Don't worry about Otto, _jefe_. He got me this sweet new robot arm, so I got no problems with him once he's on our side. As for the rest of them, I can handle them personally." Lars said.

"You won't do a damn thing unless I say so. Like he said, you're the new recruit, and you don't have as much weight as you think, especially not since you got caught. If you didn't have any more use to me, you'd be dead and forgotten." The leader said.

"I don't care how you do what you do, as long as you get the job done, and everything goes according to plan. Now, you've still got plenty of places to drive out, like Good Burger and Skatopia, my competitor in this area. I can't buy the Good Burger, and Skatopia won't sell. If you don't hit one of them by tonight, all of you are fired, and your severance package comes with no life insurance, if we understand each other." Alex Gravity said.

"I'll you do you one better: How about we hit both tonight if it makes you feel better?"

"Why, yes. That would make me very happy. Once all the big businesses are out of the picture, phase 2 begins. Then, you all get paid well, not to mention lifetime passes, of course."

"Cool with us."

"So why are you still here?"

"We're not. Rippers, you heard us. Next, we hit Skatopia, then Good Burger. But, first, how about we round up our new recruits?"

* * *

Several hours later, after a long, tiresome walk home, Otto and Twister finally arrived back at their abode, stepping inside through the front door. As the two arrived inside, Twister felt that something was suspiciously wrong with their home.

"Hey, Otto, is it just me, or does our house seem... different?" Twister asked.

"Yeah, the smell's gone. Guess Tito cleaned up while we were gone." Otto said.

"It's not that, it's like... too quiet."

"Well, no shit. Only we live here, and we're not currently in the house. Therefore, with no one in the house, there is no one to make noise in the house. Consequently; the house is quiet. Was that slow enough for you?"

"Yeah, but what about Sam and Tito? Shouldn't they be here?"

"...Maybe they went home and didn't tell us. Big deal."

Otto reached out to the wall, flipping the light switch and Upon flipping the switch to the lights, nothing happened.

"Twist! Did you forget to pay the light bill again?" Otto asked.

"No way, dude, you were there with me, you saw me pay it!" Twister replied.

"Well, then, what happened to the lights?"

Twister headed into the dark unknown of the room, heading towards the ceiling fan. After pulling the string to the fan, Twister discovered that the light was simply turned off on the pullstring switch, thus making the switch on the wall temporarily ineffective. With the string pulled, the lights came on in the room, bringing the tense moment to an anticlimactic end.

"Somebody used the string instead of the switch. Whatever. Looks like that 'super-detective' stuff is like a Rain Man thing, huh?" Otto asked.

"You know, Otto, I don't like when you talk to me like that." Twister said.

"Like how?"

"Like I'm an idiot and you talk down to me like that."

"Well, let's be honest, Twister, you're not exactly the brightest of bulbs."

Angered by his insensitive comment, Twister picked up a smoke pipe from the table and threw it at Otto's head, the pipe shattering against his head, miraculously not leaving any cuts on his head.

"YAH! WHAT THE FU-" Otto began to say.

Before Otto could finish his sentence, Twister punched him in the stomach, knocking all the breath out from him and leaving him to fall to the ground.

"Stop that, Otto! I hate it when you always do this to me!" Twister shouted.

" _What the hell, man?! What do I do to you to deserve this?_ " Otto choked.

"You talk down to everybody like you're better than them, especially me, your own best friend! You act like a narcoleptic!"

"Uhh... Don't you mean ' _narcissist_ '?"

"Oh, and you'd would know, wouldn't you?"

"Look, man, we talk like this to each other all the time. Why the sudden PMS episode?"

"I never liked being treated like an idiot! Don't you think I have feelings?"

"Seriously, dude, you're acting like a chick right now. You even listening to yourself?"

"Are _you_ listening to _your_ self?! I'm trying to tell you that my feelings are hurt, and you just wanna brush it off?!"

"What do you think's more important right now: Your feelings, or stopping these criminals from tearing our hometown apart?"

Twister thought over the two options for a moment, contemplating whether the mission was more important, or his own personal feelings twoards Otto and his disrespect towards him. Unfortunately, with someone not intelligent enough to think too far ahead, his emotions outweighed his logic.

"...I guess my feelings are more important, because I'm not helping you anymore." Twister said.

"Are you serious right now? You'd rather let these guys go and let them tear up other places than just suck it up and help me catch them?" Otto asked.

"If it means getting away from your bad attitude and huge ego, then yeah."

"C'mon, dude, we're supposed to be best friends. What the hell is this?"

"These days, it looks like Dax is your new best friend, so you can be best friends with him. We're done."

After giving his goodbyes, Twister walked out the door, taking his skateboard along with him, hoping to find another place to be other than in Otto's presence.

"Oh, yeah? Well, screw you too! I don't need your help! I'll beat them all by myself! Good riddance!" Otto shouted.

Despite Otto's prideful shout to Twister as he left, his emotional state was anything but powerful in that moment. With his best friend gone, no one else home, and Dax and the Prodigy out on business, Otto was left without any emotional support when he needed it most. Is this consequence a form of punishment for his wrongdoings a person, or simply a moment of bad luck?

Needing to find some release for the moment, Otto turned to the bag of marijuana sitting in the cupboard, hoping to smoke away the problems in his life. Taking a bud and placing it in a pipe, Otto took to the couch and prepared to intoxicate himself, hoping to forget his problems with an artificial high.

Lighting the devil's leaf as it laid in the pipe and inhaling its fumes, the cannabis made its way into Otto's lungs, the chemicals beginning to reach his brain. As the marijuana's components made their way to the receptors in his brain, his high was beginning, leaving his brain in a haze-like state; barely able to think past the moment he was in.

For the past few days, he was nearly killed by well-equipped supercriminals bent on terrorizing Ocean Shores, and made catching them his mission, hoping to locate their known accomplice, Lars Rodriguez. Now, focusing too much on his new friends in Dax Jett and the Prodigy Skateboarding Team, it seems that he has forgotten his goals and priorities.

It seems that, although he lives in his 20s, he has never learned the meaning of responsibility, or how to own up to being a man.

In the midst of his high, however, the phones of his house began to ring loudly, managing to catch his now limited attention span. Reaching and picking up the phone, Otto answered the call and held the phone to his head, beginning the conversation with the mysterious caller.

"Hello?" Otto asked.

" _Otto, it's Dax. You got plans?_ " Dax asked.

"Uh... I was just gonna stay home and smoke some weed. What's up?"

" _Come on back to ZGZ. We need you._ "

"Dax, man, I'm not really in the mood for skating-"

" _Not a skating session, man. Team meeting. Bring Twister._ "

"He's not here."

" _No?_ "

"No, man. He's off at Madtown, probably."

" _Well, just come on anyway._ "

"What for?"

" _You'll see._ "

* * *

Meanwhile, outside of the home of Randy 'The Rowdy' Raucous, the obnoxious and ill-tempered leader of the Rowdy Boyz, the eponymous team and their leader resided inside, throwing a party with untold amounts of alcohol, more drugs than an entire Mexican cartel, and many, many attractive (and quite unintelligent) women. Being uneducated skaters with destructive tendencies, their hedonistic tendencies make these parties a regular occurrence for the household.

Sitting outside the household, just on the edge of the sidewalk outside the home, an old car rested unsuspectingly, not minded by anyone in the vicinity. Inside the car sat Reggie Rocket, Sam Dullard, and Tito Makani, all silently observing the home, hoping to catch evidence that the Rowdy Boyz were the mysterious Rippers, and ending their threat to the small town.

Inside the car, however, the three found little to no success on their stakeout just yet, as typical of many stakeouts, growing impatient and bored.

"Sammy, how long exactly does this kind of thing take?" Reggie asked.

"I don't know. For all I know, they might not leave home at all." Sam said.

"So, you want us to just sit here and do nothing for several hours?"

"That's pretty much all we can do."

Tito let out a loud yawn, reaching out his arms to stretch his tired body.

"Well, cuzes, I don't know about you, but I'm getting tired. Think you two can handle this on your own? I can't stay up as long as I used to." Tito said.

Sam looked to Reggie, as if seeking approval. After thinking for a moment, Reggie gave Tito his answer.

"Sure, Tito, go ahead and head back. Me and Sammy got this." Reggie said.

"Great. I'll see you two in the morning. Call me if you need me, I'll be asleep." Tito said.

Tito stepped out of the car, the car rising back up from having the enormous body weight of Tito Makani relieved from its body. With Tito gone, Sam and Reggie were now left alone, creating an awkward tension between the two.

"So, uh... This is gonna be a long few hours, I guess, huh?" Sam asked.

"Well, it's your stakeout, Sammy." Reggie said.

"Yeah, it is."

Sam and Reggie sat in an awkward silence, not knowing what to say to each other next.

"So... Uh... Listen... about yesterday, in the garage..." Sam began to say.

"Uh, that? What about it?" Reggie asked.

"Just to clarify, that was... Uh... What was that?"

"I don't- Uh... I..."

"I mean, everybody's started talking about us, and-"

"Talking about us? What are people saying?"

"Well, Otto's joked about us, Tito's joked a little and... We're not a 'thing', are we?"

"We've just been friends again for a few days, Sammy. What do you think?"

"Well, yeah, but... I don't know. I haven't really had much experience in this area. Like... none at all."

"None at all?"

"No. I was always busy at my store. This is all kind of weird."

"Well, if I'm being honest, this is kind of weird for me, too. I only had one guy friend, and he was gay, and he was just a colleage."

The two shared another awkward silence, still at a loss for words towards each other.

"You know, you were the only person who was consistently nice to me when we were kids." Sam said.

"I was?" Reggie asked.

"Yeah. Otto and Twister would always mess with me, being the Squid to the group, but you were the nicest one. I kind of liked you back in the day."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Well, uh... If we're being honest with each other... I kind of liked you too."

"You did? Wow."

The two sat in awkward silence yet again, still fumbling over their own thoughts and words.

"You know... I still... kind of like you." Sam said.

Reggie began to give a slight blush at Sam's comment, not prepared for Sam to share his full feelings.

"Wow... Well, uh... I kind of like you still too... I mean, even though we've just met again." Reggie said.

"Yeah, I know, me too, but..."

As the conversation began to fumble and fall on itself again, Reggie and Sam began to feel strange, not knowing what was wrong with themselves. Their minds were in a strange state of lack of concentration, not able to fully focus on any train of thought. Being stuck in a car without the air conditioning turned on was no help, either.

"Is it just me, or it is kind of hot in here?" Sam asked.

"It is. I'm starting to feel woozy." Reggie asked.

"This feels kind of familiar... You don't have any weed in here, do you?"

"What? No, why?"

"I only felt like this when I was high for the first time the other night. At least, when the initial hysteria started to lower, but I don't know what could've-"

As Sam began to ponder what could be causing their state of mind, he had a minor flashback to the hotdurgers that Tito had cooked on Otto and Twister's grill, and the fact that marijuana was mixed with the charcoal, potentially lacing their food.

"Oh, crap." Sam said.

"What? What happened?" Reggie asked.

"How many of those hotdurgers did you eat?"

"I think 3 or 4. They were really good, why?"

"I think they might have had weed in them. Otto and Twister tried to burn marijuana in their grill, and Tito cooked the hotdurgers in the grill."

"What?! Why didn't you clean it out?"

"We tried, there was way too much to get out."

"So, we're both high. Great. This isn't going to be easy."

"Hang on, let's not panic just yet. There couldn't have been too much pot in the grill, so we probably won't be high for long, or maybe not high enough to get distracted from the mission. This might not change anything."

"I don't know, Sammy, my head's starting to feel a little dizzy now."

"Well, crap. This is going to be a challenge."

* * *

Meanwhile, at the now-closed Madtown, the now alone Twister Rodriguez stepped inside the park, crawling under the fencing, looking for a place of comfortable solitude. Sitting alone inside the park, Twister seems to have found a suitable place to rest, hoping to be away from his problems.

While many believed that Otto and Twister were inseparable as friends, this day proves that this was no longer a fact, and things between the two were far more tense than ever. Not knowing what to do without his best friend, Twister found himself not knowing what to do.

Needing to find something to vent his frustrations on, Twister began to sing traditional Mexican folk songs to himself, practicing his singing abilities after much time out of practice. Despite the large and frequent amounts of marijuana Twister smokes, it seems that it has no effect on his singing ability, still sounding as good as before.

As Twister began to find a moment of peace to himself, an unexpected visitor came to visit. This visitor was the sociopath Lars Rodriguez, little brother to Twister. How comedic that, after much time spent to try to find him, Lars simply appeared to the group actively seeking him out of nowhere.

Taking notice of his little brother singing alone, Lars instinctively decided to crack jokes at Twister, just like he always does.

"Hahaha! You still sing that pussy shit at 25? What are you, a Backstreet Boy? Or, more like a Backdoor Boy?" Lars asked.

Upon hearing the voice of his older brother, Twister immediately stopped singing, turning to face Lars standing before him.

"Lars?" Twister asked.

"Who'd you expect, Jimmy Hoffa?" Lars asked.

Twister, wasting no time to stop his brother from committing any more heinous acts, jumped on Lars, repeatedly punching him in the face. Lars, barely able to react to his younger brother's unexpected burst of energy, found himself unable to fight back against

"Ow, ow, hey, c'mon, man, knock it off!" Lars said.

Partially meeting his request after landing numerous hits to his face, Twister stopped punching Lars and grabbed him by his shirt, holding his face to his own.

"Where's the rest of your gang?! Where are the Rippers?!" Twister shouted.

"Hey, calm down, man! I'm just here to talk, really!" Lars said.

"Don't treat me like I'm stupid, all of you already think I'm just an idiot, just like that self-absorbed prick Otto Why was I ever friends with that jackass?!"

"Whoa, whoa, man, what the hell are you talking about? You and Otto aren't friends anymore? I thought you guys were best buds or something?"

"Not anymore. I'm sick of him always treating me like I'm stupid."

 _Man, what I wouldn't give to make all my favorite jokes towards my pussy brother, but, I play my cards right, this little dweeb'll be on our side, and mine, no problem._ Lars thought.

"Treating you like you're stupid? How?" Lars asked.

"Why do you care? All you wanna do is trash on me, just like you've always done since we were kids." Twister said.

"Well, things change. You and I are brothers, right?"

"Well... Yeah... I- Hey, wait, are you trying to mess with me?"

"No, no, man. You got me all wrong. You wanna get back at Otto, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, since he's going after the Rippers, and I happen to be one of the Rippers, why not join us?"

"What?! You want me to join you? Why would I do that?"

"To help you get back at Otto. You've put up with his shit for years now, so why not get a little payback this time around?"

"What's in it for you?"

"I want revenge on that asshole, too. He made me lose my arm."

Remembering that Otto noted that Lars lost an arm during their last encounter, Twister finally took notice that Lars seemingly possessed both of his arms, leaving a hole in the story he was told.

"Hey, wait, he told me you lost your arm, but how? You've got both of your arms." Twister asked.

More than eager to reveal the newly acquired arm he had received, Lars took off his glove and rolled up the sleeve of his right arm to show his new robotic arm. Twister, never having seen such a wonder of modern technology, marveled at the sight of his robotic arm.

"He made us crash and I lost my arm in the process. The Rippers gave me this cool new one. I'm still not too happy that Otto made me lose my old one, but this one has it's benefits." Lars said.

"Like what?" Twister asked.

"When I jerk off with this arm, I can pretend it's a stranger."

Twister gave a look of disgust upon receiving the mental image of his brother masturbating with a robotic arm, trying his best to remove the image from his head. Lars, more than amused at his little brother's look of disgust, immediately laughing at his reaction.

"Hell, no, man, I just get some bitches to handle that for me. This arm has much more practical uses than that." Lars said.

Lars pointed his arm at the Madtown sign, changing his arm into its machine gun form as he did so. Opening fire on the entrance, Lars shot down the support beams to the sign, making it fall to the ground. With his target eliminated, Lars changed his arm back into its regular arm form. Twister, not expecting his arm to possess weapons as well, found himself shocked and dumbfounded at the demonstration of the arm's abilities.

"That's just my arm. You should see the board they gave me." Lars said.

"Wow, dude, the Rippers have some pretty cool stuff." Twister said.

"Hell, yeah, man. You stick with us, I guarantee you'll get your fair share of cool shit too."

"I still don't know. Otto's a jerk, but you're still kind of a jerk too."

"Tell you what, then. Let's have a fresh start. Not just because we both want a piece of Otto, but because we're both brothers. How about it?"

Lars extended his hand for a handshake, awaiting Twister to meet it. Twister, torn between various internal conflicts, contemplated very hard before agreeing to ally with his brother, who was once his greatest enemy.

 _He's up to something, I know that. I wanna get back at Otto, but we still need to stop the Rippers from blowing up any more places like Squid wants. Maybe I can get both at once. I guess I might as well try to use him since he's trying to use me._ Twister thought.

Finally, Twister met Lars' handshake, creating a deceptive alliance between the two.

"Okay... _bro_ , a fresh start it is." Twister said.

"Alright. Now, you up for a trip to Good Burger?" Lars asked.

* * *

Elsewhere, at the skating emporium known as Zero Gravity Zone, Otto Rocket arrived to the front door of the massive skate park, as instructed by Dax Jett. However, after arriving at the front door, Otto found himself at a dead end in his travels, as the front door was locked, as business hours were over.

"So, now what?" Otto thought aloud.

Otto felt a hand land on his shoulder, giving him a startle and turning to face the owner of the hand. Standing behind him was Dax Jett, waiting his arrival no longer.

"Jesus, dude, what's with you and sneaking up behind people?" Otto asked.

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself. So, you ready for our little meeting?" Dax asked.

"Yeah, sure. Sorry I couldn't bring Twister."

"Don't worry, we can deal with him later."

Dax led Otto to the back door of Zero Gravity Zone, stopping short of the door before entering.

"Now, I know you've only hung with us for a few days, I know this, but I give you this offer because I have faith in you. You're one of the best skaters I've laid eyes on in my years, and I believe you could be one of the best things that happened to this team. If you step through this door, you're in it to win it. Any and all skepticism, you walk away now. You still in?" Dax asked.

"What are you, bringing me into a cult or something?" Otto asked.

"Not a cult, man. Something bigger than you could imagine. Are you still in?"

"Yeah, sure, I'm in."

"No, no, no, not 'sure', are you in, or are you out?"

"Okay, yes, I'm in. That good enough?"

"Why, yes, it is."

Dax opened the back door to Zero Gravity Zone, leading the two to the VIP section of the park. Stepping to the middle of the room, just in front of the couch, Dax prepared to deliver his next speech to Otto.

"Now, a few days ago, you came into contact with a group of strangely-dressed individuals, and these individuals rode on skateboards that hover off the ground, right?" Dax asked.

Otto, not expecting Dax to know the events surrounding the robbery of Sam's Electronics Store, took a step back upon hearing the question.

"What?! How'd you-" Otto began to ask.

"And did they look like these fellows behind you?" Dax asked.

Otto turned around to face 3 strange men dressed in the same technological suits that he encountered at Sam's Electronics Store, bringing him into near panic, not knowing what to do.

"What the- Where'd they-" Otto asked.

The 3 techno-robbers all removed their masks, revealing the identity of the mysterious Rippers. The 3 Rippers were Mike, Jared, and Wes, the 3 other members of the Prodigy team. Upon seeing the faces of the Rippers, Otto had a revelation after seeing the evidence presented to him.

The Prodigy team were the Rippers.

He slowly turned to face Dax, who knew by the look on Otto's face that he knew the truth.

"Mr. Rocket, meet the Rippers." Dax said.


	13. Chapter 12: The Customer Is Always Right

**CHAPTER 12: THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT**

At the end of the year 1994, a new culinary revelation came to the United States, becoming one of the most popular and frequently-visited fast food establishments on the west coast. That fast food establishment is the one and only Good Burger, home of the world-famous Good Burger.

In 1997, the chain became one of the nation's top-selling restaurant chains, outselling its competitors Nasty Burger and Honker Burger, despite only residing on the west coast of the country. In California, Good Burgers have become a food staple so common, it has become its own place on the food pyramid for many Californians.

Under the direction of a man only known mononymously as Ed, a man who rose his way from being a simple cashier to the CEO of the corporation, Good Burger has become a modern-day Mecca for stoners, fast foodies, and anyone hungry for a burger; leaving the drive-thrus constantly packed and the company always busy.

However, in the later hours of the day, business calms down quite quickly, as the hour of 10 PM proves that the majority of eaters have had their fill, leaving only stray eaters seeking a later dinner. Among that crowd are Twister and Lars Rodriguez, two brothers and sworn enemies temporarily allied in an agreement based on mutual deceptions, each holding ulterior motives from one another, looking for whatever brotherly bonding could be found in this unstable relationship.

Upon looking around the Good Burger, the two brothers found that only a handful of people were eating, and a less than a few were taking orders. With the advent of automated ordering kisoks, human interaction became a scarcity in many fast-food restaurants.

In a town with a low populace, that makes the job of a fast-food worker near-obsolete as machines took over their duties, making the job fairly popular among lazy high-school and college students, as well as general slackers.

The cashier working this night was a teenager, barely at the age of 16. This young boy, not having much to do, sat bored at the registers, looking at his phone in boredom, an act that barely qualified as 'attending the registers'.

Upon seeing the lazy teenager at the counter, Lars began to form a bad idea in his head, getting a sadistic idea to have fun. Walking towards the cashier as if he owned the very restaurant, Lars approached the young worker, loudly clearing his throat to make his presence obviously and obnoxiously known.

"Hey, kid, what do I gotta do to get a burger around here?" Lars asked.

After noticing Lars approach the counter, the young cashier put his phone back in his pocket, turning his attention to his customer, replying in a heavily cracking voice, showing that he was not quite finished completing puberty.

"Hello, sir, what can I get you?" The cashier asked.

"Hey, man, I don't get the proper greeting?" Lars asked.

"...'The proper greeting', sir?"

"Yeah, man. One of the things I always love about Good Burger is that cheery attitude all the cashiers always got, and that classic line they give me: 'Welcome to Good Burger, home of the Good Burger, can I take your order'? You know, that sort of classic interaction you kids just don't seem to keep up with today. Wanna try again?"

After holding back his annoyances, the cashier reluctantly complied in an irritated manner, making it clear that he was not interested in continuing the conversation.

"Welcome to Good Burger, home of the Good Burger, can I take your order?" The cashier asked.

"First of all, it's 'may' I take your order, not 'can' I take your order. Second, what's with the attitude? Haven't you heard the expression; 'the customer is always right'?" Lars asked.

"But you just told me to-"

"Oh, now you wanna give me lip? You know, when you kids take a job, you're supposed to do your job, not jerk around the customer. Didn't you ever get proper training?"

After taking more of his verbal abuse, the young cashier began to grow more irritated with Lars' rude and annoying approach, beginning to tell that Lars was simply looking for trouble. Lars, conversely, was enjoying every second reveling in harassing the cashier, only beginning to start the troubles to the restaurant.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the VIP section of Zero Gravity Zone, a much more uncomfortable interaction has occurred between Otto Rocket and the Prodigy skateboarding team. After spending a few days with them in an attempt to find a mysterious group of technologically advanced criminals known as 'The Rippers', Otto has been unexpectedly and unpleasantly surprised with news revealed to him by Dax Jett, the leader of The Rippers.

The members of the Prodigy _are_ The Rippers, and they've been aiming to add Otto among their ranks.

"What the- You?! The Rippers?! How?!" Otto asked.

"We've been in this town for a few days, seeking out places to hit and potential recruits to seek out. We came across your NewTube videos, and we liked what we saw. Imagine how lucky we were to see you in action against us, taking one of us down with nothing but your bare hands. We needed a good skater, and you're probably one of the best I've laid eyes on." Dax said.

"So you've had your eye on me, huh? What about Lars? Is he your idea of a good skater?"

"No, he's my idea of a nihilist made of pure rage; stupid, antisocial, and simple-minded. He's our human wrecking ball. You, on the other hand, are the skill to the brawn of the team."

"You want to rob and blow up businesses. What makes you think that I want to be any part of that?"

"You're not seeing the bigger picture behind what we do, Otto. That's why I brought you here tonight."

"Yeah? Well, you've only got so long before I go back to my main objective of stopping you guys. What's the grand scheme?"

"If this is the part where you think I'm going to tell you the whole plan of our group and then set you in a deathtrap only for you to escape and beat us, I'm sorry to disappoint you on not completing the James Bond cliche. Instead, I want you to think on your own as I tell you a few things."

"Enough babbling, Dax, just say what you're doing already."

* * *

Elsewhere, outside the house of Randy Raucous, the stakeout of Sam Dullard and Reggie Rocket continues, hoping to catch incriminating evidence that Randy Raucous and his group of friends are The Rippers. As these two do not possess the information that others have regarding The Rippers, they do not know that their stakeout is for nothing.

However, even though the stakeout is continuing as planned, an unexpected variable has surfaced, posing a challenge on their objective. Earlier for dinner, the two ate Tito's famous hotdurgers... cooked on a grill containing marijuana. As his cleaning was not thorough enough, the two have now found themselves becoming high from their dinner, beginning to share more and more personal information with each other.

"You know, Reggie, I just wanna say, I always really liked you back when we were kids." Sam said.

"I know, Sammy, you just said that a few minutes ago." Reggie said.

"No, I mean it, I really, _really_ liked you. You were always the nicest to me. Otto and Twister would always mess with me, but you always were kind to me. I really liked that. It made me happy."

"Sam, you're high, aren't you?"

"Probably. I can't believe that Otto and Twister would do something stupid that would bite us in the ass now."

"Uh... Sammy, that's exactly what they do."

"Well, yeah, but... I mean... This is just kind of a weird scenario. Who'd of thought that trying to cook with marijuana would affect us now, on a stakeout?"

"Yeah, okay, you got a good point."

"You know, you have really nice boobs too."

Reggie gave Sam a surprised look at his sudden and blunt comment.

"Uh, come again?" Reggie asked.

"Your boobs, you know, your boobs. I like them, they're nice. I like your butt too, your legs, your hips, it all looks great." Sam said.

After realizing what he had just said under the influence of the hemp in his food, Sam began to find himself completely embarrassed and shocked that such words would come out of his own mouth.

"Reggie, I am _so_ sorry, I don't know why I-" Sam began to say.

Rather than lay into Sam for his vulgar and perverted comments, Reggie began to giggle at his flustered state, her high taking away all her inhibitions and feelings of conduct.

"It's okay, Sammy, it's okay if you like my body. I actually kind of like your body too." Reggie said.

"R- Really? You do?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. You got into way better shape than before. You have way more muscle on you."

"But... I'm still a little chubby."

"Nothing wrong with a little padding. If women can have it, why not guys?"

"I never thought of it like that."

Unexpectedly, Reggie began to moan intensely, slowly grinding against her seat, beginning to increase her intensity as she continued. As she continued, Sam began to become very nervous and flustered, not expecting Reggie to do what she was doing, nor even what to do or say.

"Uh... Are you doing what I think you're doing?" Sam asked.

"Oh, god... I'm getting really horny after that talk... That's never happened to me before... Must be the weed..." Reggie said.

"Uh... Reggie... I think it may be very important that neither of us make eye contact right now."

* * *

At Zero Gravity Zone...

"Tell me something, Otto, when you take a look around this town, what do you see?" Dax asked.

"I see my hometown, what's that supposed to mean here?" Otto asked.

"Empty streets. Closing businesses. Struggling citizens. Ever since video games and smartphones came into existence, no one is coming to Ocean Shores anymore, and this city has never been worse."

"What about all those kids we partied with the other day? That was a lot of people to me."

"They only came here because I invited them here from all over Orange County, and none of them would've ever heard of this town if it wasn't for me. Plus, all those kids are children of traditional skaters and surfers. It's in their family. Kids now don't give a shit anymore. There's barely been any new skaters emerging in any of the main championships nowadays. Hell, more people tune in for Fox News than the X Games nowadays."

After hearing Dax's arguments about Ocean Shores' deterioration and fall from glory, Otto began to think over his words, realizing just how empty his hometown was becoming, just as Twister once mentioned to him.

"Property values are the lowest they've ever been, businesses have to charge triple the normal prices of corporate businesses just to survive, and so many people have left this town." Dax said.

"So, then, what's your solution? How does robbing and blowing up places help anybody?" Otto asked.

"Simple. They file a claim on insurance, get a big settlement, and move to Oregon, where they can live out a better life. We're just cleaning up what's left in this town."

"And blowing up the big businesses drives out all the regular people, right?"

"When a virus has no more resources to consume, it moves on to another area to find more resources, just like in human nature. We're just trying to urge people to settle elsewhere to be happy."

"But what is the point? What happens to Ocean Shores?"

"If Ocean Shores can't be saved, then it should be euthanized. Ocean Shores isn't dying, it's already dead."

* * *

At Good Burger...

As the interaction between Lars and the cashier continued, the manager began to take notice of the affair going on, approaching the counter to inspect the situation for himself.

"Is there a problem here?" The manager asked.

"Well, I'm glad you asked, Mr. Manager. First of all, this kid tries to blow me off when I wanna take an order, then he decides to mouth me off and give me attitude, and I haven't even told him what I want yet." Lars said.

"Just a moment, sir."

The manager took the cashier away from the counter, wishing to get to the bottom of the situation.

"Is this true, son?" The manager asked.

"No, sir, I've been trying to help this guy, but he's just acting like a jerk to me. I've been patient with him and tried to take his order, but he's making me do all these weird things, like telling me to say one thing, then get mad at me for saying it. It's like he's trying to mess with me _._ " The cashier said.

After hearing the cashier's story, the manager began to think over his options, seeking the best way to resolve the situation.

"I'll take this one, then." The manager replied.

The manager and cashier returned to the counter, the manager ready to take their order and the cashier more than ready to see Lars out of his sight.

"Sorry about that wait and your troubles, sir, what can I get you today?" The manager asked.

"Well, I'm glad you asked, Mr. Manager." Lars asked.

To no one's expectations, Lars pulled out a handgun and pointed it directly at the manager, causing the whole restaurant to freeze and duck in panic, all letting out screams as they did so. Twister felt just as panicked, not knowing his own brother would do even an act such as this, nor even expecting him to even have a handgun.

"Give me a double Good Burger, a large Good Soda, an extra-large fry, and an apple pie." Lars said.

"Uh, sir, w- we don't have extra large fries-" The manager began to say.

"Oh, you too? I said it before, I'll say it again. ' _The customer is always right_ '. Why do you _cabrons_ not seem to understand that?"

"Uh, of course, sir. One extra large fry, anything else?"

"Twist, what do you want?"

Twister took him time to answer, still nervous over the situation he wasn't expecting himself to be in.

"C'mon, little bro, whatever you want, it's on me. Or, more specifically, on him." Lars said.

"Lars, what the hell are you doing?" Twister said.

"What's the matter, man? Don't you want your burger?"

"Who cares about burgers? Don't you realize this is all wrong? Doing what you're doing to these people?"

"Doing what to these people?"

"You know, holding a gun on them and threatening them? This isn't right, dude."

"Listen to yourself, man, you sound like a total pussy. No wonder Otto trashes on you so easily."

"What? What does that have to do with this?"

* * *

At Zero Gravity Zone...

"So, what, then? You just clean up the town and leave it to die?" Otto asked.

"Not exactly. With the people living in Ocean Shores finally out of the way, we've done our job, and we get paid." Dax said.

"Paid for what? What's the point of all this?"

"You ever hear of eminent domain?"

"That's where the government buys your stuff and turns into stuff everybody uses, right?"

"Basically. Unfortunately, eminent domain is a power that only the government has for public projects, and it gets in the way of real progress. Alex Gravity hired us because he has a vision for this town. Bigger than anything anyone's ever come up with. It's gonna make Disneyland look like Six Flags."

"And what is his big vision?"

"It's a surprise. But here's what I can tell you: You just do what we do, help encourage a few people to retire, and, you, my friend, will become part of the greatest idea to come to life in the entertainment industry."

"I'm still not feeling really inclined to terrorizing people."

"C'mon, Otto. Think about this. All your life, people try to throw you in a box, try to make you this big, strong, respectful member of society, right?"

"Well... I guess."

"So, then, don't you wanna get back at them for once? Show the world that you don't wanna be part of its stupid guidelines and rules that don't make any sense? Show your dad that you're not somebody who lives by his rules, but your own?"

Otto took a moment to think over Dax's words, beginning to seriously consider the offer being made to him.

"This is the ultimate ride, Otto. Don't you wanna be part of it?" Dax asked.

* * *

At Good Burger...

"Face it, bro. You've been a pushover this whole time for that Rocket Dork. Me? I haven't been a bitch for anyone. As you can see, I do what I want when I want to do it." Lars said.

"Like rob a Good Burger? Who does that?" Twister asked.

"I am, right now."

"But it's wrong!"

"Says who? Otto?"

"Well... I guess he'd say that, but-"

"So, you're still Otto's little bitch, always sucking up to him and doing whatever he wants, huh?"

"Hell, no, dude! No way am I being his little wimpy punching bag anymore!"

"Then why don't you prove that? Are you gonna be some little wimp like Otto thinks you are, or are you gonna be a big boy with big _cojones_ and show the world who's the real _jefe_?"

Contemplating the offer being made to him by his brother, Twister began to think as hard he could, beginning to forget about his initial intentions of taking advantage of Lars to infiltrate and stop The Rippers.

While Otto was supposed to be his best friend, having never left his side since they were children, Otto's recent treatment of him had been less than friend-like, especially for someone meant to be his best friend. But, now, Lars was showing him a new path in life, a path that could grant him more control over his own life and find some independence.

Lars may have been a bully to him all his life, but now he was offering not only his friendship, not only his brotherhood, but also a way to be more in control of his life as opposed to staying in Otto's shadow. Even though that path had many hardships and problems down the road, and harm to be brought to others, Twister never thought that far ahead in his life.

"Well, _hermano,_ whaddya say?" Lars asked.

* * *

At Zero Gravity Zone, Otto made his decision.

"Okay. You talked me into it. I'm in." Otto said.

* * *

At Good Burger, Twister made his own decision.

"I'm gonna show the world that I'm the real _jefe_." Twister said.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the stakeout...

Reggie, still feeling extremely aroused from the effects of the marijuana, continued to grind against the seat of her car, her control of her mind slipping away with every second of not releasing the energy in her body.

Sam, just as high as Reggie, found himself very uncomfortable with the events unfolding right next to him, even with the cannabis removing his inhibitions and fears. Having a woman that you knew most of your life trying to sexually relieve herself right next to you will do that to you.

Unfortunately, with the vulgar display occurring next to him, the show he was receiving was having more of an effect on him than he realized, a much more... _physical_ effect. With Reggie's erotic moans beginning to trigger a carnal instinct in his mind, Sam began to feel his pants growing extremely tight, displaying something that was far too personal to be displayed to most people.

Sam tried to move his legs to try to conceal his shame, but Reggie took notice of his actions, realizing what he was doing, adding to his embarassment.

"Sammy... Is that what I think it is?" Reggie asked.

"Well... uh... I mean... You're... doing... that... next to me... and I... uh..." Sam stuttered.

"Should we... help each other out?"

"What?! Ar- are you-"

"C'mon, Sammy. You were saying just a minute ago how much you liked me, don't you want it for yourself?"

"I... uh... Yes?"

"Just 'yes'? That's the best you got?"

"I can't think straight right now, I'm too high and horny."

"Then don't!"

Acting on pure animal instinct, Reggie jumped on top of Sam and began starting an activity between the two to help relieve the tension that the marijuana was building between them, hoping to bring their mutual torture to an end.


	14. Chapter 13: Three's a Crowd

**CHAPTER 13: THREE'S A CROWD**

Resting unsuspectingly on the side of the street, the competitor of Zero Gravity Zone known as Skatopia began to temporarily close its doors to the public for the night, its employees just beginning to close up the park after a slow work day. After running a work day of 10 hours, only three loyal customers came to visit and skate in the park, along with one newcomer. Being an unpopular rival to the popular Zero Gravity Zone, that was the busiest that Skatopia could get, especially being run in an empty town.

Outside the park, however, a group of persons with malicious intentions awaited in the parking lot, aiming to see that the park closes its doors to the public permanently. Those people are The Rippers; the team roster composing of Mike, the fighter, Jared, the techie, and Otto, their newest recruit, acting as point man.

"Okay, Otto, you ready for your first mission?" Mike asked.

"I guess so, I wasn't expecting to go raiding a place already. You sure we can't put this off for a couple of days, maybe when no one's here?" Otto asked.

"The more people, the more effective this little strike is. When people see how unsafe it is, they won't be coming back any time soon, and therefore this place'll have to close. Besides, you won't be killing anyone. We only said we were going to kill you as a bluff that night when you fought us. In fact, keeping them alive'll spread word about how unsafe it's getting." Jared said.

"I thought you guys _didn't_ want our presence here known?"

"Our employer's starting to get impatient and wants us to speed things up. Besides, who's gonna believe a bunch of kids when they tell the few remaining cops in this city that some huge bad-asses rode in and caused mayhem on hoverboards?" Mike asked.

"Fair enough, but I still haven't had much practice with this board. Why couldn't you just give me a different board instead of having to go back to my place for this one?"

"We didn't double back to your place for no reason. If you were good enough to take it from us, you're good enough to ride it." Jared said.

"Now, come on, man, this is your first mission. You ready to smash shit up or not?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good. Let's go." Otto said.

Ready to cause mayhem within the park, The Rippers walked into Skatopia, taking notice of its substandard layout; no color schemes nor themes were to be found, the half-pipes and pits were small and barely suitable for experienced skaters, and no music was to be heard, all as opposed to Zero Gravity Zone.

As The Rippers took their time to look around the park, the group was immediately and unfriendly greeted by a middle-aged man.

"Hey, kids, we're closing up now. Besides, you can't use your own gear. You gotta rent our gear to skate here, I don't care how high-tech your stuff is." The man said.

"Oh, don't worry, pal, we're not here to skate in your shitty excuse of a skate park. We've seen better half-pipes in kids' backyards." Jared said.

"Well, then, you three can get the hell out of my park or you can share your unkind experiences with the cops."

"Don't bother, big guy. You won't be conscious long enough to call the cops." Mike said.

* * *

Meanwhile, outside the home of Randy Raucous and his skateboarding team known as the Rowdy Boyz, Reggie Rocket and Sam Dullard, believing the group to be The Rippers, began a stakeout to catch the group in the act. Unfortunately, there seems to have been a major change in plans.

After consuming marijuana-infused hotdurgers, the two young people have found themselves extremely aroused and needing some release, turning to each other to resolve the dilemma.

"Oh, wow... I didn't think it'd be this good..." Sam said.

"Tell me about it, you're bigger than I thought, Sammy..." Reggie said.

"How did we even get here?"

"I don't know... I just got really horny... The weed must've done it to me..."

"I think it's because both of us had so much sexual tension built up from our jobs, and the weed just made us let it out. It makes total sense, especially since we both talked about how much we like each other-"

"Damn it, Sammy, do you have to look at everything from such a scientific perspective?"

"Sorry, I can't help it. That's just how I think."

"Well, don't think right now. Just be in this moment."

As Sam tried to follow Reggie's instructions, their long stakeout finally managed to pay off, as Randy and his Rowdy Boyz all stepped out of the house, beginning to ride off on their skateboards. Sam, barely able to focus on anything else for obvious reasons, just barely noticed the group leaving.

"Oh, shit, oh, shit, Reggie, they're moving!" Sam said.

"What?" Reggie asked.

"The Rowdy Boyz, they're moving! Get back in your seat, we need to go!"

"No, don't stop now, I'm almost there!"

"What?! Are you kidding me?! We have to go!"

"Just drive, Sam, drive!"

[Soundtrack Cue: Methods of Mayhem - Crash]

Reluctantly, Sam began to drive after the Rowdy Boyz, using all of his willpower to keep his concentration on the road, both the marijuana and the ecstasy between him and Reggie nearly taking all his concentation away. Pressing the pedal to the floor, Sam began to race after the Rowdy Boyz and catch them in the act.

* * *

Elsewhere, at Skatopia, The Rippers' job of terrorizing the park had begun. Mike immediately punched the greeter in the face, knocking him to the floor and knocking several teeth out of his mouth.

The rest of the employees of the park took immediate notice of the act of assault, taking a step back at the sight of The Rippers. The Rippers, just beginning their fun, threw down their skateboards and began skating through the park, knocking over several objects and smashing various displays.

"Rippers, raise hell!" Mike called.

At Mike's command, the remaining two Rippers, Jared and Otto, immediately skated through the park, utilizing their various weapons to demolish the skate park. After dropping several bombs and smashing everything in their path, Skatopia was on the way to becoming rubble very quickly.

Scenery like half-pipes, tunnels, ramps, concession stands, tables, chairs, and other various park accessories began to reduce to flame and rubble within minutes, the park beginning to be completely trashed. Even though few people occupied the Skatopia, the few occupants, the employees and the few patrons, all cowered in fear at the high-tech criminals destroying the park.

* * *

Terror ensues not just at Skatopia at this moment in time, but also at the Good Burger, brought about by Twister and Lars. Twister, his weak mind taking influence from his sociopathic brother, punched the manager in the face, then beginning to stomp on him as he laid on the ground.

"That's it, little bro, let it all out!" Lars encouraged.

While he warped Twister into letting out his frustrations in an antisocial manner, Lars turned his attention to the young cashier, still not finished tormenting him. The cashier, hoping to find any shelter he could, cowered in the corner behind the counter, crying hysterically in fear of his life, sitting in his own urine.

" _Oh god oh Jesus oh shit no please please please god help me through this_ -" The cashier ranted.

As the young cashier hid in hopes that his troubles would soon end, it seems that his hopes were far past gone. Overhearing his fearful cries, Lars approached the cashier, giving a twisted smile as he approached the fearful young man.

"See what happens when you don't treat your customers right? Aren't you sorry you didn't give me the service I deserve?" Lars asked.

" _Please don't hurt me, I don't wanna die-_ " The cashier began to say.

"Excuses, excuses. How many times do I gotta say it, white boy? _THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT!_ "

Lars followed his words by dragging the cashier in the middle of the restaurant, preparing to deliver his next punishment to the poor cashier. With the cashier paralyzed in fear and unable to move, Lars landed a kick to his stomach, making him spit up blood.

"Please, no, I have anemia!" The cashier pleaded.

"So? I have gonorrhea, you don't hear me bitching, now, do you?" Lars asked.

* * *

On the streets of Ocean Shores, the high-speed pursuit between Sam and Reggie and the Rowdy Boyz continues on... as well as the stoned love-making session between Sam and Reggie as they continue their pursuit.

"How close are you?" Reggie asked.

"Do you mean me or the chase?" Sam asked.

"I mean the chase!"

"I don't know, they're pretty fast for only moving on skateboards."

"That's definitely got to be them, nobody could be that fast on-"

Before Reggie could finish her sentence, the session between the two gave her an unexpected impulse of pleasure, causing her to let out a moan.

"Was that it? Are you finally done so I can get back to the drive?" Sam asked.

"No, that wasn't it, but I'm getting there. How about you?" Reggie asked.

"Oh, I think I'm getting close, too. I really didn't expect it to be this different."

"Well, no shit, we're in the middle of a car chase."

"Continuing was your idea."

As the two continued on their conversation and physical activities, the Rowdy Boyz took notice of the car following them, beginning to question its motives.

"Hey, Randy, what's with that car?" A Rowdy Boy asked.

"I don't know, but it's getting awful close for my tastes. Let's lose it." Randy said.

The Rowdy Boyz, wishing to find some privacy from their pursuer, began to speed away from the car, hoping to lose it. Sam, not willing to lose the pursuit so easily, sped up to catch up to the Rowdy Boyz.

* * *

Back at Skatopia, The Rippers continued to wreak havoc, smashing various decorations and skating equipment, beginning to reduce the park to nothing. Despite being the newest member to the group, Otto found himself causing the most chaos of the whole group, as if venting out his own frustrations on life against the park.

"I think you're enjoying this a little too much, Otto. A little pent up much?" Jared asked.

"Just letting out some old harbored teen angst against my dad. Working wonders right now, actually." Otto said.

"Well, then, don't let me stop your little therapy session."

While The Rippers continued their destruction of the park, the employees of Skatopia, fearful for their lives against the high-tech vandals, hid underneath the counter, hoping to be safe against the mayhem occurring in the park.

Their limited shelter was soon proven to be ineffective, however, as one of The Rippers found them hiding, startling them. This Ripper was Mike, the most violent of the group. Thinking he was alone and unwatched by his teammates, Mike pulled out a gun and pointed it at the employees, preparing to end their lives.

Just before Mike could pull the trigger, Otto took notice of his actions, rushing over to stop him. Upon reaching Mike, Otto immediately smacked the gun out of his hand, sparing the lives of the Skatopia employees.

"What do you think you're doing?" Otto asked.

"I'm giving these people more reason to leave this city, what's it look like?" Mike asked.

"We're not supposed to be killing anyone, remember? We need them to tell other people about us."

"Yeah, but we don't need all of them alive to do that. I think a few dead bodies'll give the message a little better, don't you think?"

"I don't think so. I'm an asshole, but I'm not a murderer. Let these guys go."

After taking a moment to decide on his next course of action, Mike finally caved to Otto's demands.

"You'd better watch how you act. You're still the new guy, and Dax won't look very kindly to you screwing up our operation." Mike said.

"Nor would he look kindly on you killing other people senselessly. Now, how about we forget this and go back to smashing shit?" Otto asked.

"Fair enough."

As Mike left to turn his attention back to demolishing the park, Otto turned his attention to the cowering employees. Just barely able to speak from their state of fear, the employees let out endless thanks to Otto for sparing their lives.

" _Thank you, sir, thank you._ " The employees said.

"Don't thank me yet, I got something I want you to do for me." Otto replied.

" _Anything you want, just name it._ "

"Quit your job and move. Ocean Shores belongs to The Rippers now. Got it?"

" _Yes, sir, we'll be gone tonight._ "

"Make it first thing tomorrow morning. I don't want you kids forgetting anything. Now beat it, will you?"

With their lives spared and their exit made clear, the employees immediately ran out of the building at Otto's command.

"Okay, boys, let's burn this bitch down. We're done here." Jared ordered.

With the park destroyed, the occupants gone, and the message of The Rippers sent out, The Rippers began to lay down flammables around the park and igniting them, leaving Skatopia to burn to the ground, erasing its legacy in Ocean Shores.

* * *

On the streets of Ocean Shores, the chase between Sam and the Rowdy Boyz was reaching its climax, as were Sam and Reggie themselves. As Sam tried his best to keep his concentration on the road, it seems that what willpower he had left was now totally gone, focusing only on the moment between him and Reggie.

"Oh, god, so close..." Reggie said.

"Me too, I'm gonna..." Sam said.

As Sam lost his concentration even further, his foot went all the way to the floor, pushing the car's acceleration to its max and speeding towards the Rowdy Boyz at speeds none of them could dodge in time, leading the group to inevitably be hit by Reggie's car.

Just before the car could hit the Rowdy Boyz, Randy took a look behind him to see the car nearly coming towards him, giving him just enough time to realize what was about to happen next.

"What the-" Randy began to say.

Elsewhere, at Good Burger, Lars continued punching the young cashier, landing in several punishing blows that left visible effects on his face. After Lars had delivered numerous punches to the cashier's face, several teeth had fallen out of his mouth and his eyes turned black, signalling that he could not take much more punishment.

" _Please... Please stop... Dying.. I'm dying..._ " The cashier pleaded.

"What makes you think I want you to live, loser?" Lars asked.

Preparing to deliver his final blow, Lars placed the cashier's head against the threshold of the front door, his teeth against the metal. Taking inspiration for his next move from a particular scene from _American History X_ , Lars prepared to end the cashier's life.

" _Andate a la mierda, cabron._ " Lars said.

Following his words with a sharp kick, Lars' foot landed to the back of the cashier's head, breaking his skull open against the metal threshold and killing the cashier with his blow.

[Soundtrack Cue End]

* * *

On the streets of Ocean Shores, Sam and Reggie finally finished their physical activities together, reaching the end of their mutual act. After letting out much built-up energy, the two found themselves struggling to gasp for air after their passion.

As neither of them could focus on anything else than their own moment of passion, neither of them took immediate notice of the events unfolding in front of their car. As Sam laid down on the gas pedal, he accidentally mowed down all of the Rowdy Boyz at high speed, leaving them all laying down on the street, only injured enough not to get away.

"Wow... That was just... Wow..." Sam said.

"You said it... Definitely one hell of a first time, huh?" Reggie asked.

"Yeah... It was..."

Despite the two simply wanting to continue to bask in their afterglow, a voice coming from outside the car interrupted their moment together.

" _Hey, asshole, can't you see we were skating here?!_ " A voice called.

"Crap! The Rowdy Boyz! We've caught them in the act, let's take them!" Sam said.

Sam immediately stepped out of the car and began to rush after the Rowdy Boyz, but he forgot a particular article of clothing that one would expect others to wear in a public setting...

...his pants.

Upon seeing his pants in the seat next to her, Reggie immediately took after Sam, bringing the pants with her, hoping to fix his mistake.

"Wait, Sammy! You forgot your pants!" Reggie said.

* * *

Back at Good Burger, things were quickly progressing from terrible to much, much worse. After Lars ended the life of the young cashier, Twister took notice of what had become of the young man, causing him to face a sudden and shocking realization of what had just happened.

His brother killed someone, and he himself was about to do the same to the manager.

Upon looking down at the heavily bruised manager, Twister immediately began to feel extreme regret for his actions, unable to believe that he himself was capable of such an act. Immediately trying to distance himself from his actions, Twister got off the manager, backing as far away as he could from him, and rushed to Lars to confront him over his actions.

"Dude! What did you do?!" Twister asked.

"What?" Lars asked.

"You just killed that kid! What the hell?!"

"What, _that_? That's not killing someone, little bro. _This_ is killing someone!"

As Lars finished his reply, he changed his arm into its gun form again, holding the handgun in his other hand, preparing to open fire on the customers. During the two brothers' assault on the employees of Good Burger, most of the customers simply stood away to avoid the affair, as Lars had a gun. Upon being threatened now, however, the customers began to rush out of the restaurant in fear, in a futile attempt to avoid their untimely deaths.

With the customers beginning to move on the run, Lars opened fire on the civilians. Among the first of his victims was a middle-aged man with a loving wife, the two simply seeking a peaceful dinner together. Another was an older woman widowed by her dead husband who lived with her children and grandchildren, simply seeking a moment to herself. Another was a 12-year old boy who loved video games and dreamed of making some of his own, his life taken along with his mothers'. Another was a college student who was struggling to decide what he wanted to do with his life, his indecision never resolved.

With each and every bullet that Lars fired, more and more people turned from individuals with names and dreams into dead, rotting pieces of meat with every bullet that entered their bodies. With every death, Lars laughed more and more, not caring in the slightest for his victims. Conversely, Twister felt more and more guilty, tears nearly coming to his eyes, far too in shock to do anything about the numerous killings happening before him.

In the midst of his slaughter, one particular person caught Lars' eye; a teenage girl that barely looked 15. Feeling an evil, primal urge within himself from seeing the girl, Lars shot her in the leg rather than in any vital organs, ensuring the rest of her was unscathed and ready for his needs.

After the bullet entered her leg, the girl immediately fell to the ground, crying in agony, unable to withstand the pain. With his prey maimed and within his reach, Lars gave an evil smile and approached her with a carnal desire in his eyes, snickering as he walked towards her.

As Lars approached the girl, her father stayed with her and tried to defend her against the armed man trying to take advantage of her, emphasis on 'try'.

"You stay the hell away from my daughter, you psycho!" The father said.

Not at all threatened by the father, Lars immediately shot him in the face, rendering his defense futile.

"Sorry, too horny, didn't hear you." Lars said.

Both horrified and shocked at the sight of her father gunned down so easily and dismissively, the teenage girl tried her best to crawl away from Lars, hoping to find shelter away from him. Despite her best struggles to crawl away, the teenage girl could not escape Lars' approach. Preparing to make good on his plans for the young girl, Lars grabbed her off the ground and pulled her up against a table, the two facing each other.

"Well, hello there, cutie pie. What's your name?" Lars asked.

Angered by the monster that murdered her father and in no mood for pleasantries with this man, the girl replied by spitting in Lars' face. After wiping the spit from his cheek, Lars immediately reacted by slapping her in the face, leaving her lying on the floor in pain.

"Okay, fine. I don't care about your name anyway. However..." Lars trailed.

Lars picked the girl back up, placed her over a table, and began to pull down her pants, continuing on his plans for her.

"I _do_ care about something fresh and pink of yours-" Lars began to say.

As Lars continued his actions, Twister, no longer able to sit on the side to his brother's horrific actions, decided to take a stand to stop him. Before Lars could reach the girl's underwear, Twister tackled Lars to the ground, temporarily saving the young girl.

"What the hell are you doing?! Are you completely insane?!" Twister shouted.

"Hey, what's your problem, little bro? I thought we were buds again!" Lars protested.

"First, you kill a bunch of people; now, not only were you gonna rape that girl, but she's only 14!"

"She looks 15 to me, but who's counting?"

"Dude! Were you dropped on your head before I was born?"

"Hey, man, my job as a Ripper is to get these losers out of Ocean Shores. They didn't say how they wanted it done. I'm just taking advantage of that job benefit."

"' _Job benefit_ '?! This isn't right, Lars. I can't let you do this, kill and rape teenage girls!"

"I don't rape teenage girls, bro. I make love to them."

Lars finished his sentence by shooting the teenage girl in the head, much to Twister's shock and disapproval.

"Then again, there's always some better sluts that know what they're doing." Lars said.

" _WHAT THE SHIT, MAN?! I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU!_ " Twister shouted.

"First, you don't want me to screw her, now, you don't want me to kill her. Anything else I can't do, mom?"

"I don't want you to kill anybody! That's just wrong!"

"What happened to Mr. 'I don't give a shit anymore'? You were ready to beat that manager's face in two minutes ago."

"I don't know what came over me, but it wasn't right. You... You're messing with my head. I can't think straight."

"I'm just trying to show you a better way, man. Don't act so down on me."

"Shut up, just shut up! Hanging out with you was a mistake. I'm going home."

Twister began to leave the Good Burger, leaving Lars alone to deal with the consequences of his actions alone, no longer interested in pursuing The Rippers. Lars, left alone and his own plans to exploit his brother faltered, needed to think of a way to go after Otto himself.

"Damn. I really thought he'd be down for something like this. Guess I'll have to deal with Otto myself." Lars said.

* * *

On the roadside of Ocean Shores, after an accidental collision with the persons that they were trying to spy on, Sam took to interrogating the downed Rowdy Boyz, starting with Randy Raucous himself. After looking at the team's method of transportation, their skateboards, he found that their skateboards were not the scientifically advanced hoverboards, leading to larger questions.

"Where are the hoverboards?!" Sam asked.

"Hoverboards? What the hell are you talking about, man?" Randy asked.

"You're the guys who blew up my store and ran off on hoverboards! You were going to hit another store! You're The Rippers! Where are the boards?!"

"We were going for some tacos, man. We were watching some Cheech and Chong and got hungry. Who the hell's talking about hoverboards? And why the hell are you not wearing any pants?"

Upon realizing that the Rowdy Boyz were not the Rippers, Sam began to feel a sense of defeat after the ordeal that he and Reggie had went through: Staking out the home of the Rowdy Boyz for nothing.

After processing the last sentence of Randy Raucous, however, Sam quickly realized that he had forgotten to put his pants back on. After realizing this, Sam put his hands over his crotch, covering his modesty from the rest of the group.

"How the hell did I forget that?!" Sam thought aloud.

"Ahem." Reggie said.

Sam turned to face Reggie, holding up his pants with a smug smile on her face. After taking his pants back and putting them back on, Reggie let out an amused laugh from his embarrassing act.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh all you want." Sam said.

"Just hard to believe you forgot your pants. How do you forget that?" Reggie said.

"Well, I'm sorry, I was more concerned about the fact that I just ran over the Rowdy Boyz."

"Maybe you should keep a better eye on the road."

"A little hard to do that when you were on me. You were the one who insisted on continuing."

"I know, I'm just messing around. We got them now, right?"

"No. They're not the Rippers."

"Wait, what? I thought you were sure?"

"I was, but I guess I was wrong."

"So, what do we do now?"

"I don't know. With the Rowdy Boyz out of the question, that means we don't have much clue on who the Rippers are-"

Before the two could continue their conversation, their words were cut short by a loud, blaring siren and the flashing of blue and red lights. Upon hearing the siren and seeing the lights, Sam and Reggie realized that the police were present.

"Crap. The cops." Sam said.

"What? They're cops, so what?" Reggie asked.

"We just ran over 5 guys on skateboards."

"Oh... Well. This is bad."


	15. Chapter 14: Find Me Guilty

**CHAPTER 14: FIND ME GUILTY**

In nearly every city across the U.S., there exists a police system of some sorts to keep the peace; some are organized by city, others by county. Within each and every police department, there exists at least a handful of odd and uprising stories to be told about the numerous suspects brought in on such strange scenarios and circumstances.

Some might hear stories of people believing that they were being abducted by aliens through a drug-filled episode of insanity, others may be told tales of publicly urinating in a bottle in public, then consuming the very same liquid from the same bottle; and perhaps one might catch ear of a group of college fraternity members drunkenly attempting to obtain the underwear of elderly women.

This night, however, there is not one of those stories that come close to the story that the Ocean Shores Police Department has been told tonight.

After taking in the young people known as Sam Dullard and Reggie Rocket, the members of the OSPD were told the story of how they had began a stakeout of a renegade skateboarder known as Randy Raucous in the hopes that they would discover proof that he was a member of a technologically advanced group of arsonists and robbers whose method of transportation are gravity-defying skateboards, only to become intoxicated from marijuana-infused hotdogs on hamburger buns, then have sexual intercourse in the car, and, when the group of skaters began to leave the house, the two chased them down, while both still engaging in intercourse, and run the entire group over, with the police catching them both with their pants down, literally.

Predictably, the policeman interrogating Sam and Reggie does not take their story so easily.

"I gotta hand it to you kids, if there were a world record for most ridiculous bullshit story I've ever been told, you two would win, no contest. Now, you _really_ wanna tell me what happened tonight?" The policeman asked.

"Look, how many minor details do I have to put into that story to make it sound believable? We thought these guys were-" Sam began to say.

"A group of super-criminals that rob stores with hovering skateboards? Mr. Dullard, this is Ocean Shores, not Hillwood. You tell that story in a city that had a psycho in goth makeup take a whole school hostage and guys in green suits beat the shit out of 'em, it could pass. Here, where our population is lower than the entire state of Nebraska, that's a pretty big story that had to have _some_ impact. Why is it we've never seen any reports of these 'Rippers', as you call them, in any form of news here in Ocean Shores?"

"I tried to take my story to my boss, the editor of _Ocean Shores Today_ , but he didn't believe me and fired me." Reggie said.

"Is that so? I can't imagine why he'd do that."

"So I went to Alex Gravity and told him my story, and he said if I could get my hands on a hoverboard, he'd believe me and help us stop them, not to mention give me my job back."

"Alex Gravity? And how exactly is the man who owns a theme park going to give you your job at a newspaper back?"

"That's _magazine_ , and he bought it out."

"'Bought it out'? What'd, he just walk in the door and hand the guy a check?"

"Actually, yeah, that's exactly what he did."

The policeman took a moment to process the information he was given, not quite prepared to take in all of such a long, detailed, and bizarre story from the two young people.

"So, not only do you expect me to believe that a group of hoverboard-riding criminals are terrorizing Ocean Shores, but you also expect me to believe that Alex Gravity also bought out a whole newspaper business, on a whim, no less; and he'd promise to give you your job back if you got one of the hoverboards, am I right?" The policeman asked.

"Yes, that's pretty much our plan." Sam replied.

"Well, then, I just have to ask, if your goal is to catch these alleged criminals, why is it you didn't simply contact the police rather than go after them yourself?"

"We didn't have any evidence to back up our claims, case in point with you not believing us now. One we got anything off these guys, we would have brought it right to you."

"Well, that doesn't matter now, you two are looking at about 5 years in prison each, and you're lucky you get that. Had any of those punks been injured at all, you would've had at least 3 years."

"What?!" Sam and Reggie asked.

"You two ran over a group of skaters on the street, that's 5 hit-and-runs; you both were high on marijuana, that's a DUI; and you were both having sex, indecent exposure _and_ distracted driving. And that's not even counting if the victims had any serious injuries yet. We're still awaiting their consent to file charges."

"Please, I'm telling you, these Rippers are going to destroy Ocean Shores, you can't just lock us up! Can't you please talk to Mr. Gravity about this? He'll believe us." Reggie asked.

"Young lady, I do not believe for a second that you have any affiliation with Alex Gravity, and even if you did, it wouldn't help you in the slightest here. The only way you'd ever walk out of here is if the victims choose not to press charges, and the chances of that happening are about a billion to one."

Just as the policeman finished his sentence, his phone rang, which he immediately answered to receive updates on his case.

"Hello? Yes, I've got the two here. ...What? Could you repeat that? ...You're shitting me. They're _not_?! How- ...Okay, okay. I'll do it now." The policeman said.

As the policeman set his phone away, ending his conversation, he composed himself before informing Sam and Reggie of the news he was to share with them, not believing it himself.

"Well... It seems that you've hit that 'one-in-a-billion' mark. They aren't pressing charges. You're free to go." The policeman said.

Sam and Reggie, not expecting to hear such incredible news, found themselves stunned at the revelation themselves.

"Wait... You're serious?" Reggie asked.

"Of course I am. Now, go on and get out of here before we find something else to charge you on." The policeman said.

After leaving the police department, Sam and Reggie were immediately met by Tito, awaiting the two in the parking lot by their car.

"You know, little cuzes, I knew you two would be charged with something, but I didn't think that sex in a car would be one of them. Guess you couldn't wait for me to go, huh?" Tito asked.

"It wasn't like that, Tito, we were just... We... Uh... We weren't thinking because those Hotdurgers you cooked got us high from the weed in the grill." Sam said.

"Really? I thought we got it all."

"You didn't feel yourself getting high at all, Tito?" Reggie asked.

"Cuz, I've been smoking so much that whatever was in that grill wouldn't have even buzzed me. You two must be _real_ lightweights."

"Well, that doesn't matter now, because the Rowdy Boyz weren't the Rippers." Sam said.

"What? They weren't? I thought you were sure?"

"I was, but I was wrong. We chased them down last night, but they weren't the Rippers. What's even weirder, though, is that they never pressed charges, even though we ran them over."

"What do you mean, 'we'? You were driving." Reggie said.

"And you were on top of me, remember?"

"Yeah, but you weren't complaining."

"Well, why didn't they press any charges?" Tito asked.

* * *

A ways away, at Ocean Shores General Hospital, the 5 members of the Rowdy Boyz laid in their hospital beds, recovering from their unfortunate impact with Sam and Reggie. While the experience of being seriously wounded and bedridden was no fun experience for the group, there was one thing keeping the 5 very happy and forgetful of the unfortunate event.

"And don't forget, once you're healed up, you get out of this town." Dax said.

Dax Jett handed Randy Raucous a check with a large sum of money, buying off his loyalty and his silence towards the incident with Sam and Reggie.

"Thanks, pal. I guess I owe you an apology for that shit I pulled at the party the other day." Randy said.

"Water under the bridge. Why don't you take that money and get yourself a new skateboard, and maybe some skating lessons? You might get a session with Tony Hawk with that money." Dax said.

"Sure, yeah, whatever."

Dax left the room holding the Rowdy Boyz, meeting up with Otto outside.

"I still don't get why you're doing this." Dax said.

"Reggie's still my sister and Sam's still my friend, I figured I owe them a little something." Otto said.

"But you still realize that their plans were to look for us. I don't think I have to tell you that we don't particularly want that kind of attention, do we?"

"I got a plan for that. You want everybody out of Ocean Shores, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, Sam and Reggie just want their jobs back, give them some money to start elsewhere, they won't be a problem."

"And just how expensive is this gonna be? We _do_ have a budget, you know."

"It won't be too bad, trust me. Besides, they're jerks, but they're family. You get how it is."

"Fair enough. Besides, you did a good job at Skatopia. I guess you deserve a little reward. Keep up the good work, and you'll be one of the best of us in no time."

"Thanks."

"No problem. That reminds me, we're having a big moment tomorrow. Make sure you're around."

"What's the event?"

"Alex Gravity's buying the boardwalk tomorrow. He's making a big announcement about it. Once he does that, the whole of Ocean Shores'll pretty much be gone with him controlling everything, and our job will be done."

"And I get a big paycheck, right?"

"We all do. For now, why don't you just relax for a bit, head back home? Tell your pals to back off a little?"

"Alright, I'll be seeing you later, man. Where do I meet you?"

"Right at the boardwalk. We get front-row seats."

"Cool. You know, I wanted to ask you something."

"Yeah? What's your question?"

"You say you're a guy that's always about 'the ride', always living like some adrenaline junkie. Money doesn't really seem like your main thing, so why do you do this?"

"Unfortunately, living for the ride ain't cheap. I've tried working regular jobs, and none of them ever worked for me. Hell, I don't think I've ever had a job in my life that lasted more than a year."

"Sounds like you did something right, mine only lasted a few months."

"Ha, well, I guess you understand it better than me. Point is, though, once I finish this, I never have to deal with any of that shit again: No more shitty jobs, no more asshole bosses, no more stupid coworkers, no more dickhead work friends, nothing. I live for me, and only me, from that point on. The American Dream."

"Well, you say we're getting there soon, right?"

"Yep. Like I said, once Gravity buys the boardwalk, our job is done. Oh, Otto? That reminds me, one more thing."

"Yeah?"

"I take it you still have the board you got from us the night you met us?"

"Yeah, you want it back?"

"Yes, please. It had a bit of damage done and we need to repair it. Bring it to us at the boardwalk so we can fix it."

"Sure thing. See you tomorrow."

* * *

Elsewhere, just leaving the Ocean Shores Police Department, Sam, Reggie, and Tito began making their way back home, needing to figure out what to do next to stop The Rippers.

"I still don't get how I could be so wrong. Everything made total sense. I was sure it was them." Sam said.

"Don't be hard on yourself, little cuz, you did your best." Tito said.

"It still wasn't good enough. I just wish we had something to bring to the cops to get them to believe us."

"Well, wait, Otto got that board from Lars the night he first encountered The Rippers, right?" Reggie asked.

"Yeah, so?"

"So, why don't we just bring that to the cops?"

"If we do, that still doesn't prove our story. That's why we didn't give it in the first place."

"Do you have a better idea?"

Sam sat in silence for a moment, trying to think of a better idea on how to stop The Rippers. After a moment to think, Sam found himself coming up with no new ideas, leading him to agree to Reggie's idea.

"Okay, fine. We show them the hoverboard. We'll just have to go grab it." Sam said.

As the group continued their way back home to retrieve the board, the three occupants of the car took notice of a certain disturbed-looking individual sitting at the side of the road, barely moving.

"Hey, what's that guy's problem?" Sam asked.

As the group took a closer look at the individual sitting by himself, the group realized that the disturbed individual was Twister, looking horrified.

"Hey, wait, that's Twister! Slow down and pick him up." Reggie said.

Sam followed through with Reggie's request, stopping the car to meet with Twister. The group, rushing to aid their friend, all stepped out of the car to meet with Twister, hoping to see why he was sitting by himself.

"Twister, what's wrong? What happened?" Reggie asked.

" _Lars... I saw Lars..._ " Twister said.

"You saw Lars? Where is he?" Sam asked.

" _I saw Lars... I saw Lars... Kill people... Kill lots of people... It was so horrible..._ "

"He did what? Where? How?!"

" _Good Burger... A gun for an arm... Shot so many people..._ "

"Twister, you're starting to go delusional. We need to get you somewhere to rest." Reggie said.

" _No... I know what I saw... It was awful... So awful... Why... Why couldn't I save them? Oh, god, why couldn't I-_ "

Twister began to break down and cry at what he viewed as his own weakness against not stopping Lars, blaming himself for the numerous deaths at the hand of his sociopathic brother, Lars Rodriguez. Unable to take the blame he was placing upon himself, Twister began to break down and cry.

"Hang in there, little cuz, we'll get you home." Tito said.

After the group carefully set Twister in the car, the group now of four began making their way back to the house, hoping to sort out their issues there.

* * *

After arriving back home, Sam, Reggie, and Tito did their best to settle Twister in; putting him in his bed, covering him with his blanket, and giving him a cup of hot chamomile tea, hoping to calm his nerves.

"Drink this, Twister. It's tea. It'll help." Reggie said.

Twister slowly sipped at the hot tea, still barely able to overcome the trauma that he had witnessed firsthand.

"Where'd you find tea? I didn't see it anywhere here." Sam asked.

"I found it in a cupboard, looks like they tried to smoke the leaves." Reggie said.

"Jesus, is there anything Otto and Twister _won't_ try to smoke?"

"Sammy! This is not the time."

"Oh, right, sorry."

Twister took another light sip from the cup, the effects of the tea now beginning to relax his body and lower his stress. After his breathing began to return to a relatively normal state, Twister began to speak more to the group.

"Lars said he wanted to have a fresh start with me, for us to be brothers. He wanted to take me to Good Burger and hang. Then, he pulled a gun on the cashier. Then he started talking to me about how I've lived beneath Otto for my whole life, telling me to take control. While he was beating up the cashier, I... I started beating up the manager. I... I don't know why I did it, but Lars made me want to do it. I couldn't help it, I just laid into the dude. I didn't even know him, and I just wanted to beat the shit out of him. I didn't think at all about what I was doing until Lars... Until he killed the cashier. He wasn't even 17, and Lars killed him. He... He stomped his head against the threshold of the door... his skull... the sound... it was awful... It was then that I started to realize what happened. Then, he just started shooting everyone... They all died... I didn't do anything to stop him..." Twister said.

"Twister, it's okay, it's all over now-" Reggie began to say.

"No, it's not over. I... If I was capable of beating up that guy... would I be capable of shooting people like that? To kill people like that? Like some kind of super psycho like Lars? I mean, he's my brother, so, he's, like, got my genes and stuff. So, if he's capable of doing that, would... would I do something like that? Would I become someone like him? Would I-"

Not able to face the horrible thoughts that raced in his head, Twister began to roll over in his bed and cry, fearful that he would become just as sadistic and ruthless as his own older brother, becoming just as horrible a person as he was. Reggie, still being as nurturing as she can, tried her best to comfort Twister while in his horrible thoughts.

"It's okay, Twister, it's okay. We know you. We've known you for years. You'd never do anything like that. You're a good-hearted person. You just got... a little confused, that's all. It happens. We can all work this out together." Reggie said.

As Reggie tried to keep comforting Twister, the garage door began to open, letting a loud noise in the room indicating the group of the event.

"What's that?" Reggie asked.

"It's the garage door, but who'd be coming here?" Sam asked.

The group went to investigate the garage, all finding Otto preparing to take the hoverboard from the garage. Not expecting the group to be home, Otto found himself temporarily held up from his goal.

"Oh, uh, hi, guys. What's up?" Otto asked.

"Otto, what are you doing with that board?" Reggie asked.

"I... was, uh... going to... borrow it?"

"What do you mean, 'borrow it'? What are you doing with it?" Sam asked.

"Uh... Dax wants it."

"That guy you've been hanging with? Why does he want it? And why did you tell him about it?"

"I didn't, he, uh... The Prodigy team... they're the Rippers."

Sam, Reggie, and Tito, none expecting Otto to share such shocking news with them, all stood in astoundment at the news of discovering Dax and his team were The Rippers.

"What?! Are you joking?! How long did you know?!" Sam asked.

"Since last night. Dax told me all about it, and told me what their game is." Otto said.

"So, what's their plan?"

"Since Ocean Shores has no more people in it, these guys were hired by Alex Gravity to clear it out so he can build something better here."

"What?! Alex Gravity hired these people?!" Reggie asked.

"Are you kidding me?! Why didn't you tell us sooner?!" Sam asked.

"I, uh... I was... Look, how about we just sit down and talk?" Otto asked.

"You are _not_ in any position for comfort right now, Otto. Start talking now." Reggie said.

"Okay, okay, look, like I said, the Rippers were hired by Alex Gravity so he could build something out of Ocean Shores, Dax told me that the whole city was dying, so I should help them, so I am. Last night, we hit Skatopia and drove the place out of business. Tomorrow, Gravity's going to buy the boardwalk, and our job'll pretty much be done, and we all get paid."

"You're _working with these people?!_ Are you out of your mind?!"

"Look, Reggie, Ocean Shores pretty much went to shit these past years. How many people do you see vacationing here? Nobody. It's just like Twister says, nobody cares about skating or anything outdoors wise anymore. Anybody we run out, they file for insurance or sell out, get their money, and leave to somewhere better. Where's the harm?"

"'Where's the harm'?! These are living people you're terrorizing, Otto! What were you thinking?!"

"'What was I thinking'? Every goddamn time I talk to Dad, he _always_ harps on me for not doing anything with my life. He _always_ says that I'm a loser. Well, I'm getting paid a shitload of money for skating, and doing something better for Ocean Shores, so who's the loser now?"

Reggie, barely able to comprehend Otto's arrogance any longer, found herself far too frustrated to even speak, beginning to feel nauseous.

"Oh, my god, I can't believe you, Otto. I don't even know what to say to you anymore." Reggie said.

"Well, since I basically got you out of being arrested from the cops last night, a 'thank you' might be a good place to start. Had the cops not been on Gravity's payroll, you might've been sent to prison. Sam, your money for the store came in, right? Open some place in Oregon with your money, you're set; Reggie, I'll split you some of my money, you, dad, and Noelani can all go live in L.A. or Huntington Beach or something. Everybody's happy." Otto said.

"You don't get it, Otto, do you? This city isn't just some shirt you change when it gets dirty. It's our home. We've lived here since we were all 10, all growing up together, even though we split apart; building our lives here, putting everything we have here. This city's a part of us as anything else. I thought _you_ , of all of us, would understand that most." Sam said.

As Otto heard Sam's rationale, he began to think over his words more carefully, rethinking his own actions with The Rippers. While bonding with Dax and his team for the time he was, he had begun to place too much trust in the group, more susceptible to their arguments.

"You always loved it here, Otto. Madtown and the beach were practically your parents. The Shore Shack and the boardwalk were where most of us hung out together, and we spent most of our lives just having fun. How can you look at me with a straight face and say none of that matters? That this city should just go up and die? That you would be willing to do something like that?" Sam asked.

"Ancient Hawaiian saying, cuz: 'The coconut can roll many places, but it can never forget the tree it left'." Tito added.

Upon hearing all of Sam's full argument, Otto began to stop and rethink his life choices. Ocean Shores, the very same town that he was born and raised in, was just as important to him as everything in his life. How could he go and do such terrible things to his city?

In some misguided way of finding his own independence, Otto turned on his very home and tried to destroy what was left of it. No one would consider that honorable, and less would consider that good.

However, as obvious as the truth may seem to some; for Otto, the truth never seems to go to his head, his arrogance and misplaced self-believed superiority blinding him from seeing the right thing to do. Still hanging onto the friendship he had formed with Dax and The Rippers, and all that they had done for him, Otto's loyalty began to sway from his once-believed friends.

"Yeah. Forget Ocean Shores, and forget all of you. It was fun while it lasted, but I found myself a new clique, of people that actually gave a shit about me." Otto said.

Reggie, unable to believe what she was hearing, screamed in disgust, rushing out of the room to find a place for her own peace of mind. Tito, not able to accept someone he watched grow up turn so bad, shook his head in shame and exited the garage as well, no longer able to stomach the conversation.

Sam, on the other hand, was not so easy to give up, especially not with Otto trying to take the hoverboard.

"Lars shot up the Good Burger." Sam said.

Otto, not expecting such news to be shared from Sam, believed the news to be a last-ditch attempt to try to win him over.

"Yeah, right. Lars is an asshole, but you don't expect me to believe that, do you?" Otto asked.

"What, you don't believe me? Why don't you just go to the Good Burger yourself and see?" Sam asked.

"I was just there to try to get a burger, but they closed up. Lars fired a few shots, but no bodies were reported. They all just ran out."

"Otto, are you so desperate to defend your new friends that you won't listen to reason? What have these people done for you that we haven't? We were best friends. We were _all_ best friends."

"That's the key word, Sam. _Were_ best friends. All of us all broke off and did our own things. We only all came back together to stop these guys, but, after seeing what they're about, why should we?"

Before replying to Otto's question, Sam took a long, deep breath before answering, composing himself in his own state of anger before doing so.

"You know, Otto, I always knew you were an asshole, but I thought you'd have enough sense not to go this route. I guess I was wrong. I guess you never learn." Sam said.

"Maybe, but I'm getting paid for it." Otto said.

"Sorry, Otto, but I can't let this city be destroyed. I'm going to stop you. I _have_ to stop you."

"Oh, really? Sam, I'm in way better shape than you, how do you intend to stop me?"

"The old fashioned way."

Sam rushed to deliver a punch to Otto's face, but was subsequently brought to a stop as Otto stepped to the side, landing a kick to Sam's stomach, leaving him lying on the ground, all the breath knocked out of him.

As Sam laid on the floor, he tried to get back on his feet, reaching for Otto and grabbing at his pants to pull him down to the floor with him. Otto, not so easily stopped, pushed him off and began to walk out with the hoverboard.

"Nice try, Sam, but you just never could keep up with the rest of us." Otto said.

Throwing the board to the ground, Otto began to skate off, leaving Sam in the garage. Sam, still trying to stop Otto, called after him.

"Otto, no! The board, it's unstable, it'll-" Sam began to say.

Sam's warning about the board was left unheard, leaving himself laying on the floor in pain and Otto on his way back. Sam, feeling guilty over his failure to stop Otto, continued to lay on the floor, disappointed in himself.

Reggie and Tito, having heard the commotion, rushed out to help Sam, having found him on the ground. After helping him back up, the two began to question what had happened between the two.

"Sammy! What happened to you?" Reggie asked.

" _Otto... He got away..._ " Sam choked.

"Well, what are we waiting for, cuz? We'd better get his sorry butt back here before he causes more trouble." Tito said.

" _No... I have something better..._ "

"What, Sam? What'd you do?" Reggie asked.

" _In his pocket... I put a recorder... We sold them at my shop. Once he starts talking to them again, we send it to the F.B.I.. If there's no cops here to help us, we call in the big guns._ "

"So, what do we do now?" Tito asked.

"Tomorrow, Alex Gravity's going to announce that he's buying the boardwalk. Otto'll be there, and so will the Rippers. We can get what we need, then take them down."

"So, what do we do now?" Reggie asked.

"Not much we can do now except wait. Once he does what we need him to do, we send the evidence straight to the F.B.I., then we win. For now, we all just relax. Tito, you've done good here, why don't you head home? Reggie and I'll take care of Twister."

"You sure, cuz? You don't look so good."

"I'm sure, Tito. We've won this fight now, just go home. We've got this."

"Okay, cuz, whatever you say. I could use a little rest after today."

As Tito left back home to try to get over the events that occurred, Reggie tried to find a place to be alone, trying to forget about the horrible actions of her brother. Sam, trying his best to comfort Reggie, sat down with her and tried to comfort her.

"I'm okay, Reggie, it's fine." Sam said.

"Real nice, Sam. My brother just became a damn terrorist, and the first thing you can think to tell me is that _you're_ fine." Reggie said.

Reggie got up again to try to find a place away from Sam, but Sam followed her, still trying his best to help her.

"Look, I'm sorry, I just want to give you some help." Sam said.

"I don't want your help, Sammy. Just leave me alone." Reggie said.

"I don't like Otto going bad any more than you do. I remember when he and all of us were best friends. I hate seeing him like this, especially after being friends with him for so long."

"You think you've got it bad, Sam? He was my little brother, always a little jerk, but my brother through and through. Now, I don't know who he is. I don't understand how money went to his head like that. Why are you even bothering, Sam? Do you just want to get in my pants again?"

"Wait, what?"

"What, did we forget about last night? You screwing me while we were doing 70 in a 45?"

"Reggie, we were high, neither of us were thinking straight."

"There was definitely some 'straight thinking' on your part."

"Reggie, we were both high, we had... tension... that we needed to get out of ourselves, and... well... we kind of liked each other. It all just... sort of... fell into place... I guess."

"So, what? You're implying that all we're good for is just doing it?"

"What?! No, Reggie, I'm just saying... well... I like you, and... I think you like me."

"Yeah, you made it pretty clear you thought I was good-looking enough for you."

"No, like... 'like you' like you."

"What's the difference?"

"Reggie, have you really been alone for so long that you don't understand basic human relationships?"

"Sam, we've got hoverboard-skating criminals destroying Ocean Shores, and you wanna talk to me about romance?"

"I just want to help you, Reggie. I don't like seeing you hurt like you do. I know what it's like not to have anybody. How do you think I was before I moved to Ocean Shores? Nobody liked me. I was the fat nerdy loser everybody made fun of. You were all the first guys that hung out with me and accepted me. Yeah, you guys made fun of me, but there was at least some love behind it. If you weren't there, I might not have ever known friends. I think working at that magazine for so long, not having any real friends outside of work, you forgot what friends were like, and what more than that was like. And... I think... between us... you know there's something there, but you don't know how to accept it."

Reggie began to think over Sam's words, looking into her own inner feelings.

"I don't just like you because you're pretty, Reggie, I like you for who you are. You're smart, funny, strong, and passionate. You care about the city, and you care about all of us. That's why you're mad at Otto; you care about your brother because you know he's better than that." Sam said.

Sam gently took Reggie's hand, trying to capture her full attention without being too invasive.

"Look, I know this is all hard for you, but just hang in there. Like I said, anything Otto says, we'll have evidence to stop the Rippers and Alex Gravity. We'll win, and Ocean Shores'll be safe again. We can talk about... _this_... when it's over. Just please, hang in there, we can still win." Sam said.

With Sam finally bringing her back to reason, Reggie finally let out a deep breath, ready to continue on the fight.

"Okay, Sam. We can still win. So, how do we get ready in the meantime?" Reggie asked.

"I already have a plan." Sam said.

* * *

Meanwhile, as the afternoon began to change into night, Tito finally managed to make his way back home after several long hours of walking down the streets of Ocean Shores.

Upon reaching the front door of his house, Tito opened the door and stepped inside, giving a loud yawn and stretching his arms as he entered. After beginning to relax his nerves now being in his place of solitude, Tito walked to the kitchen and poured a glass of water, rehydrating himself from his long, tiresome walk in the hot Californian sun.

After getting his cold drink of water and preparing to sleep peacefully before the plan to stop the Rippers tomorrow, Tito decided to sit down on his couch and relax, making plans to sleep on the couch for the night in his dimly-lit living room. Preparing to provide himself with relaxing noises to distract his mind, Tito reached for the remote to the TV.

However, when Tito reached for the remote to turn on the television, he found it absent, causing him to question its strange absence. Picking himself up from his comfortable spot, Tito began looking for the remote, needing it to help him relax.

Before Tito could question where it went, his question was soon and unexpectedly answered as the lights to the room came on, seemingly on their own. When the sudden impact of the light began to subside, the lights showed that there was an uninvited and an unexpected guest sitting across from Tito.

That guest was Raymundo Rocket, the best friend and business partner of Tito Makani, who, as he sat across from Tito, revealed that he was holding the remote to the TV in his hand.

"Oh, hey, Raymundo. Whatchu doing in my house this late at night?" Tito asked.

"Tito. You've been gone for two days. I tried calling you, you didn't answer your phone. I tried coming here to see what happened to you, you weren't here. I called the rest of the Makanis in Hawaii, adding long-distance calls to my phone bill, but they said that you weren't with them either." Ray said.

"Oh, yeah, that. Sorry I didn't tell you, but I had a... medical emergency. I didn't want to get sickness in any of the burgers. They also put me on heavy sedatives the whole time."

"I also checked with every hospital in town and in the area, none of them had you as a patient. Please don't lie to me."

"Hey, now, brutha, what's with this interrogation episode? Do I owe you money or something?"

"A few hours ago, a huge slew of customers came to the Shore Shack and you weren't there to help."

"Well, brutha, that's good we got more business, but I-"

"The customers told me that they were only there because the Good Burger was shot up by two kids. After we fed everyone, I went to find out more. The Good Burger was nothing but a pile of bodies, and no cops or ambulances were anywhere, like no one bothered to report it. You'd think with all those people who came to us, _one_ of them would've called it in. So, I did. And guess what? Nobody believed me. They tried to arrest _me_ claiming that I was a prank caller. So, I looked for some news stories on it. Not a single person reported it, except for this one."

Ray held up a newspaper documenting Lars' massacre at Good Burger, showing a photograph of Lars and Twister Rodriguez in the center. However, Tito looked to the publisher of the newspaper, _Citizens' News Media_ , a tabloid magazine.

"...Ray, you do realize this newspaper documents UFO and Elvis sightings, right?" Tito asked.

"That's Lars and Twister Rodriguez in the photo. There's another story with Otto's face at a place called Skatopia. I checked both places, and, besides the right-wing talk, the stories speak for themselves. What is my child doing? I know you know." Ray asked.

"Listen, Ray, I-"

"No, you listen to me, Tito. The other day, I spilt out my heart and soul trying to apologize to my boy for all the trouble I've caused him over the years. I always tried to control his life, and tried to make him into what I couldn't be. That was my mistake. A few hours ago, I find in this newspaper two terror acts; one perpetrated by my son, and the other by his best friend. This is _not_ something I can let my son do. Where is he?"

Tito thought long and hard before he answered Ray's question, debating on whether he should formulate another lie to protect Otto, or to come clean with the truth. And, if he chose the latter, how he would even begin to explain the truth.

Not knowing where to start, Tito opted for the truth, preparing to explain it all to Ray.

"...It's not what you think it is." Tito said.

"Then what is it?" Ray asked.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, brutha."

"Try me."


	16. Chapter 15: Beach Party Massacre

**CHAPTER 15: BEACH PARTY MASSACRE**

As the morning sun came to bring the first light to a new day in Ocean Shores, this new day was unlike most others that came to the small city. On most days, the streets would be empty, no one would commute or socialize, and no life could be found on the city.

Today, with the change brought upon by a certain wealthy individual by the name of Alex Gravity, that has all come to a change.

For decades, the Ocean Shores Boardwalk has been a staple of the city's economy and its culture, drawing in hundreds if not thousands of tourists and locals alike with its excellent rollercoasters and world-famous ferris wheel. With delicious treats sold by numerous concession stands and other fun mini-games from the sideshows, hours and hours of fun could be found here.

However, as the economy of Ocean Shores dwindled with its lowering tourist count, the boardwalk was closed years ago, leaving behind only an abandoned theme park and the memories of fun times had by many with it, much like the similar tale of Coney Island, as found on the East Coast.

Today, however, Alex Gravity made an announcement to purchase the boardwalk, promising to restore it to its former glory once again, bringing back tourists to the city. For this historic event, numerous people from all over the Southern California area, young and old, came to see this event take place, as well as the local news stations to make news of this announcement, all conversing and questioning about the large deal taking place.

Near the boardwalk itself, however, there laid very different questions from the event. With the Good Burger gone and all evidence of the crime erased, the Shore Shack became the only good location to obtain a tasty burger for the hungry beachgoer. Within the Shore Shack, Ray, Tito, and Noelani all stayed vigilant and busy with the large groups of people buying burgers, bringing business back to the once-downfalling fast food stand.

Despite the heavy customer count to keep him busy, Ray's mind couldn't help but linger about the recent conversation between him and Tito regarding his son, Otto Rocket. After hearing that his son was part of a group of super-criminals bent on destroying Ocean Shores for a millionaire to do land development was no easy load to take, with the fact that the millionaire guilty in question was the one making an appearance today, as if adding insult to injury.

As Ray continued to space off on the horrible news that he received, more and more of the onslaught of customers continued to grow irritated with their lack of service, demanding their food. Tito, taking notice of his best friend's mind leaving the workplace, tried his best to bring him back to reason.

"Hey, brutha, you wanna put your mind back to the real world and help me with these customers?" Tito asked.

"Tito, my son became a criminal, this entire city is under terror of a damn theme park owner, and that same man is here to buy the last part of this town all to himself. Do you honestly expect me to just sweep that under the rug and forget about it?" Ray asked.

"No, Ray, I want us all to confront Otto about it when we get the time, but right now we've got the biggest amount of customers we've ever had, and we can't afford to lose all these people right now, much less make a scene. I know you got a lot on your plate about last night, but we can't focus on that right now, especially when there's 30 people wanting their plates filled."

"Tito. My son is a criminal, do you understand? I tried with every fiber of my being to ensure he was led down a path to a good life, and I led him to do the things he did. How am I supposed to live with that?"

"Ray, remember what I said, Sam and the gang have a plan. All you gotta do is have a little faith in their plans. Ancient Hawaiian saying..."

As Tito spoke his Polynesian proverb, something caught the attention of Ray just from the corner of his eye. Upon looking out into the crowds of people walking the beach, he noticed a particular individual striking a strong resemblance to Otto. Upon further inspection, he realized it _was_ Otto, moving about the crowd while trying to stay discreet.

"Hey, Raymundo, you listening to me?" Tito asked.

Ready to confront his son about the events that he had went through, Ray took off his apron and handed it to Tito.

"I'll be back in a few minutes. Hold down the fort here." Ray said.

"What?! Are you crazy, brutha? We got a whole bunch of hungry mouths to feed-" Tito tried to say.

Before the two could finish their conversation, Ray was already halfway into the crowd, out of Tito's sight and far beyond his reach.

"Oh, you gotta be-" Tito began to say.

"Excuse me, could I have some ketchup? This bottle's empty." A customer asked.

"Uh, yeah, sure, let me just get a bottle out from the back."

Trying to fulfill the customer's request for more ketchup, Tito walked to the back of the restaurant in search for a fresh bottle, only to find that there were no more ketchup bottles in stock. Upon the frustration of the discovery sinking into his head, Tito let out a large sigh, trying to calm himself enough to stay composed on his job.

"I picked a hell of a day not to sleep in." Tito said.

* * *

At the other end of the boardwalk, Otto moved out into the crowd to try to locate The Rippers, moving his way through a large crowd of beach dwellers from all across Southern California.

Not having seen the beaches populated so heavily in such a long time, the sight of so many people at the beach began to bring back some memories from his childhood. While Sam's argument from yesterday might not have been moving to him, it certainly had touched him in a way.

While he was never the nicest or the kindest kid during the days of his youth, Otto was extremely loyal to his friends, every step of the way with them. How things turned so different now with The Rippers, he's not quite so sure.

While The Rippers gave him an outlet on his frustrations with his life as they were, Twister, Reggie, and Sam were all still his best friends, perhaps even his family. Is this truly who he is now, someone different from before, or, perhaps, is he a new man, only concerned with money and excitement, more so than when he was young?

Before he could further these questions in his head, a familiar voice crept from the shadows underneath the boardwalk calling him.

" _Psst, spray-tan, over here._ " The voice whispered.

Now having found the Rippers, Otto followed the voice to a corner underneath the boardwalk to find The Rippers awaiting his arrival.

"Glad you could make it, Otto." Dax said.

"What's up?" Mike asked.

"Hello." Wes said.

"Hey, dude." Jared said.

As Otto returned the greetings of the Rippers, he faced the fifth member of the group, Lars Rodriguez, who was wearing a trench coat to conceal his robot arm.

" _Que pasa, gilipollas?_ " Lars asked.

"So, Lars. We finally meet after our little fight at Sam's store. You know, before I joined the team, we had a hell of a hard time looking for you." Otto said.

"I bet. I was hiding out safe and sound away from you _perras_ in a warehouse. I think it was... what, 816 Klasky Street? That one you went to the party at?"

"Figures. By the way, what's with the spray-tan quip? You do know that this is my natural skin tone, right?"

"Yeah, but it was either that or a Donald Trump joke, but at least Donnie'll probably build the wall and keep out the damn Mexican immigrants."

"Uh... Dude, aren't you a Mexican immigrant?"

"Yeah, but I'm here now, and less of them means more white pussy for me. I don't like to share."

"Whatever you say, man. By the way, I thought you lost your arm. You get a new one, or what?"

Lars raised his robotic arm, showing that he once again had a functional arm, but still concealed by the trench coat.

"Yeah, I got a new arm, much better than the last one. If anything, I should say thank you." Lars said.

"You're welcome." Otto said.

"I said I _should_ say thank you. I didn't say I _would_. As cool as this new arm is, I'm still not happy that you made me lose my old one."

"Okay, that's enough, you two. Otto, you got the board?" Dax asked.

Otto pulled the broken hoverboard out of his jacket, handing it to Dax.

"Yeah, here you go." Otto said.

Dax took the hoverboard from Otto, who subsequently handed it to Jared, awaiting his professional view on the damage. Jared, not expecting the damage to be so severe, reacted accordingly.

"Holy shitballs! What'd, you smash the damn thing on a rock?" Jared asked.

"No, man. This nigga dropped us several feet from the air straight to the concrete ground. I don't know how the hell either of us survived, or, better yet, how he didn't lose any parts unlike yours truly, but the board got the worst of it." Lars said.

"At least all that was worth watching you scream like a little baby, Lars." Otto said.

"Hey, suck my dick, Otto! My goddamn arm was severed off!"

"I said knock it off! Jared, how's it look?" Dax asked.

"Looks pretty bad, man. I can't fix it. Hell, you guys are lucky the damn thing didn't blow you to _Mad Max_. The nuclear failsafes worked just fine." Jared said.

"Damn. Well, then, why don't you keep it as a little memoir?"

Dax handed the board back to Otto, who skeptically took it back after hearing Jared's warning about the nuclear state of the board.

"Wait a minute, Sam told me that the nuclear core and whatever should be fine, but you said the thing should've blown?" Otto asked.

"The failsafes _did_ kick in, so, as long as you don't try to break it on purpose, it won't blow up on you. You'll be fine." Dax said.

"Hey, wait, who's Sam and how'd he know about the nuclear core?" Jared asked.

"Sam's... uh... Sam's the guy who owned the store you blew up. He was helping me find you guys, but, since I started hanging with you, I kind of ditched him." Otto said.

"But he was able to figure out how this thing works on his own?"

"Yeah, I guess. The guy's always been good with tech stuff."

"'Good'? That's unbelievable. It took me years to get this tech right, and that was before I found the... 'secret ingredient' we got to make it work. This guy must be pretty damn smart to figure it out that fast."

"Wait, what do you mean, 'secret ingredient'?"

"A few weeks ago, just before we got hired on this job, we got a tip about this special kind of tech being bought by this millionaire in Hillwood named Buckley Lloyd." Dax said.

"Who?"

"Buckley Lloyd. You know, some crazy school shooter raped his daughter, she died a few days later, he set up that charity for poor kids and orphans, blah blah blah."

"Oh, yeah, that dude. So, what about him?"

"He bought this weird piece of tech from Membrane Laboratories. Well, technically, he didn't 'buy' it, he owns the company, but that's not the point. This shit was so high-tech, they didn't even have a name for it. So, a little espionage later, we found out what it was, hijacked it in mid-air, and it gave us the missing ingredient to creating hoverboards."

"So, what was the tech?"

"Sorry, Otto, that's a trade secret. Besides, we got it stashed out of the state, we'll show you when we move out of this town. For now, why don't we just enjoy the show? Gravity's putting all the news anchors on him as one big advertising service for his big plan. After all, you buy all the news outlets, it'd make sense to use 'em to your advantage."

* * *

As The Rippers began to seek out a comfortable spot to view Alex Gravity's announcement, two other individuals walked into the crowd of people to find their own view to the event. These two people were Sam Dullard and Reggie Rocket, both hoping to find Otto and The Rippers, hoping to retrieve the recording device and capturing their incriminating evidence.

"So, where do you think they went?" Reggie asked.

"I don't know. This is a pretty large crowd. They could be anywhere." Sam said.

"I didn't expect there to be this many people out here. Been a while since I saw the beach this crowded."

"I know. It really reminds me of the old days when we were kids. You know, me, you, Twister, and... and Otto."

"Before he turned on us, don't forget. Once this is over, not only do I want him in a prison cell to learn his lesson, but I personally want to give him the beating of his life."

"He might just deserve that. Do you think Twister's gonna be okay on his own? I'm not sure that he'll be alright."

"He'll be fine. He may be a little traumatized, but he'll get over it soon enough, and we can help him."

"You're right. I think the announcement's about to start, we'd better get a good view."

"What about Otto?"

"Otto and The Rippers are working for Alex Gravity. Now that he's bought out everything in Ocean Shores, this might be the moment where he shows what he's up to. Let's listen."

* * *

Just outside of the entrance of the boardwalk's abandoned amusement park, a small podium sat in front, where several reporters and other bystanders awaited around it, waiting to hear the words of Alex Gravity to reveal his financial plans for the boardwalk. Many reporters and bystanders all conversed between each other, guessing and thinking about what the plans might be.

As the questions continued on, a woman came to the podium, gathering the attention of the crowd and bringing the questions to an end as the answers they sought were about to be given.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for coming out here today to give support for the buyout of this historic landmark which has been a part of Ocean Shores for years, but has never had a foot stepped within to give it life again. Today, a great man has come to change that. The owner of the most popular skate park franchise in the country and one of the most influential people in extreme sports, a man who brought a sport once believed for children and teenagers from the brink of extinction. Coming here today to reveal his plans for this small town, please welcome millionaire sports enthusiast Alex Gravity, here to lay to rest all rumors regarding his new business plans." The woman said.

After a long round of applause for the woman's speech, Alex Gravity came to the podium, gathering more applause from the bystanders and reporters. Once the crowd began to settle down, Alex Gravity began to make his speech regarding his plans for Ocean Shores.

"Yes, thank you, thank you. It is a pleasure and an honor to be here. Every time I come to Ocean Shores, it gets harder and harder to leave. The sun keeping the day warm, the ocean breeze keeping me cool, and the sand underneath my toes, I feel like I'm 10 again, in the water, surfing the salty seas as they come to me. I grew up in small towns like this..." Alex Gravity said.

* * *

As Alex Gravity gave his speech, Otto began to grow bored with his speech, not wanting to waste his time with his life story.

"Jeez, is this guy in love with his own voice, or what?" Otto asked.

"It's a speech. He's supposed to talk this much." Dax said.

"Yeah, but, still. Besides, this guy doesn't even look like he's surfed or skated in years. Is he even any good?"

"How do you think he was able to make Zero Gravity Zone as good as it is? He knew how from experience. Don't underestimate this guy, that was my mistake."

"Yeah, but Otto's got a point. He talks way too much. Is he gonna say what he's gonna do, or what?" Lars asked.

"In time, Lars, in time. Just enjoy the speech, or, just ignore him if it makes you feel better."

* * *

With most of his own life experiences coming to an end, Alex Gravity began to move on to the main point of his speech.

"When I first came to this town to open a Zero Gravity Zone here, this city was a haven for skaters and surfers alike. I don't think even Dogtown knew such dedicated group of sports enthusiasts in the day. Nowadays, however, even though I'm still getting plenty of business at the park, it still isn't enough to attract new young people into the sport. With interests in skating and surfing at a record low in this town, Ocean Shores has begun to die. Businesses like even the prominent Good Burger have closed, people have moved away in search of greener pastures, and Ocean Shores has turned from the Mecca for skaters to the land that time forgot." Alex Gravity said.

A large board was brought behind Alex Gravity with a large veil over it, causing the crowd to murmur in curiosity as to what the reveal could be.

"Over the past few days, I have been personally buying up all property in the city, ranging from the closed small businesses up to the boardwalk itself, as you see today. Will I be restoring and reopening the boardwalk? Yes and no. I will be restoring the boardwalk, but it will only serve as part of my grand scheme. What is that grand scheme, you may ask? Well, without further ado, allow me to show you. Today, I mark the first day of the creation of..." Alex Gravity began to say.

Reaching to the veil covering the board behind him, Alex Gravity pulled the veil off the board, revealing concept art for his project underneath. The crowd, not expecting such a large, ambitious plan to exist or be conceived, gasped in wonder at the plan.

"...the first theme park city, Gravity City!" Alex Gravity finished.

The plans on the board revealed plans to turn Ocean Shores into a massive theme park, with attractions ranging from half-pipes and BMX courses as far as the eye could see, hotels and pro shops all around, and, as promised, the boardwalk restored to its former glory.

Otto, never thinking that this would be the grand plan that he was contributing to, looked to the art in astounding, not ever considering his home town would be turned into a massive theme park.

Sam and Reggie, being the most passionate about stopping The Rippers, found even more anger and disgust with the reveal, not wanting the city they grew up in and loved so much perverted into such a mockery of its former self.

"That's right, ladies and gentlemen, my plan is to create a theme park spanning the size of an entire city, making an attraction so large, you'll _have_ to try it here. Best of all, this is just phase 1. Once construction is complete, I'm going to reveal a new type of sporting equipment so advanced, it'll revolutionize skating as we know it. Now, I'd like to lay any and all questions to rest today about my new plans to turn Ocean Shores into Gravity City. You in the gray suit, care to start us off?" Alex Gravity asked.

"Mr. Gravity, exactly what new attractions will you be bringing to the world of skating with turning the entire city of Ocean Shores into a theme park? As you made mention, interest in skateboarding has been on decline in the United States since 2004. Do you have some sort of new introduction or invention to bring to the sport?" The gray-suited reporter asked.

"Well, now, as I said, I don't want to give away too much just yet. Rest assured, however, what I'm going to bring to the world of skateboarding is going to be to today's youth what the Smartphone did during its first introduction. Next? Yes, you in the green shirt and striped tie?"

* * *

As the monotonous and substanceless questions resumed, Sam and Reggie began to grow annoyed with the blatant self-advertising Alex Gravity was giving himself.

"Geez, can you believe it? First, he buys up all the newspapers and magazines in Ocean Shores, then he uses them all to give himself free advertising. What a scumbag." Reggie said.

"You've gotta admit, it's smart. Besides, given how substanceless news in America is with politics, it might as well do the same with other fields, too." Sam said.

* * *

At the podium, the advertisement-baiting questions continued on.

"...and admission prices will _always_ be kept affordable to the public, not affordable only to the rich, you have my promise on that. Next? Yes, you in the red shirt and black tie?" Alex Gravity asked.

"Mr. Gravity, it was shown in your recent transaction history that you donated a significant amount of money towards the local law enforcement agencies, but when the recent tragedy of the Good Burger Massacre happened last night, not only did the police not acknowledge any calls, but they didn't even come out to investigate the scene of the crime during the perpetration. A while later, a cleanup crew came sent from the local law enforcement agencies, but have not reported on the incident at all, as if they pretended it didn't exist. Care to elaborate?" The red shirted, black tied-reporter asked.

"Well, I can't say I know what massacre you're talking about. Besides, I'm not the head of law enforcement here. It's not my place to judge how they get things done. I only care about what's best for my community, hence why I donated to them in the first place."

"According to your records, you donated a lump sum of 1.4 million dollars to the local police department, more than enough money to supply them with equipment and payroll for at least 3 years. Despite your generous contributions, the police force has been severely lacking for the past few days. Don't you see there to be some kind of collusion taking place with-"

"Hold on, son, let me stop you right there. What was the name of your newspaper?"

"I'm with _Citizens' News Media_ , Mr. Gravity."

"Yes, I'm very familiar with your work. Many other news outlets have called you out on numerous conspiracy theories ranging from the so-called 'truth' behind the assassination of John F. Kennedy to accusing former president Barack Obama of 'white genocide', whatever you meant by that. So, if your intentions are to somehow tie me in with one of your conspiracies, I'd like to remind you that this press conference is regarding the boardwalk deal. If you don't have any questions regarding the topic at hand, I'd appreciate if you'd be so kind as to make room for those with more burning questions."

"Mr. Gravity, we as reporters have a right to the press, I'm simply asking doing my job by asking questions."

"Yes, I'm sure you are. Now, a real question, please?"

"Very well. Of the properties you've purchased, many of them have had reports of vandalism, robberies, and numerous other attacks on their insurance claims. Many of these businesses and properties are insured by Helping Hands Insurance, and the company has been notorious in recent weeks as evading and even disregarding many of these insurance claims, particularly since you acquired Helping Hands Insurance 2 months ago through your larger company, Gravity, Inc. What do you have to say about these malpractices?"

"Alright, now, we're getting extremely off-track. Perhaps it'd be best if we took a small break from the questions."

"Excuse me, Mr. Gravity, you haven't answered my question-"

As the persistent conservative reporter continued demanding answers to his questions, Alex Gravity discreetly notified security of the rogue reporter.

" _He's not one of mine._ _Get that one out of here._ " Alex Gravity whispered.

At Gravity's request, the reporter was quietly removed by security guards, causing the reporter to grow more agitated with his press rights being suppressed, much to the crowd's skepticism. Alex Gravity, being the smart businessman that he was, pulled off a clever way to brush aside the incident.

"Sorry about that, folks, it always is a pain to see such disgruntled individuals cause trouble just for the sake of trouble. But, you know what they say, you can't let a few rotten apples spoil a good time, right?" Alex Gravity asked.

The crowd gave a cheer, agreeing with Alex Gravity's sentiments against troublemakers, tricked into siding with his position.

"I've been a member of this community for years, and I've always enjoyed the endless pleasures that Ocean Shores has had to offer its townsfolk. Surfing the waves, skating across town, playing hockey with others; they're all what inspired me to open Zero Gravity Zone. Ever since, I've kept it running to keep bringing the same joys that I had as a child to others. I'm always someone who..." Alex Gravity continued.

* * *

As Alex Gravity continued his speech, The Rippers prepared to follow through on plans they had made prior to meeting with Otto, leaving him in for a hell of a surprise when Dax would make him a specific request.

Dax pulled a handgun out of his pocket and handed it to Otto, much to his shock.

"Shoot Alex Gravity." Dax said.

"Wait, what?! What the hell for? I thought we were working for him?" Otto asked.

"We are. He ordered us to take a shot at him."

"Why? Doesn't being dead kind of prevent him from being able to build the city into a theme park?"

"I didn't say 'kill him', I said 'shoot him'. He wants us to make him a martyr in case too many people try to pry into the whole ordeal, makes him look better if people attack him."

Otto looked back and forth between the gun and Dax, not fully prepared to follow through with the ordeal.

"No. I can't do that." Otto said.

"What?" Dax asked.

"Look, man, I don't mess with guns. I said I wouldn't kill anyone."

"And I said you won't be killing anyone. Just hit him in the shoulder or something, somewhere nonlethal."

"Yeah, c'mon, man. Hell, shooting people ain't nobody's business. I did it easy when I gunned down all those people at Good Burger." Lars added.

Upon hearing that Sam was telling the truth about Lars shooting up the Good Burger, Otto looked to Lars with shock and fear, not believing even he was capable of such a heinous act.

Dax, also not aware of this event, looked to Lars in disapproving skepticism.

"Wait, you did _what_?" Dax asked.

"You heard me. I killed 'em all." Lars said.

"Lars, what the hell is the matter with you? We aren't supposed to kill anybody!"

"Yeah, well, change of plans happen, you know? Besides, you heard that right-wing nut talk about it, why are you so surprised to hear about it now?"

"I thought that was a goddamn rumor you set up, something you organized with the cops, not something you actually did!"

"What's the big deal? You said you wanted people out of Ocean Shores, they're long dead and gone now."

"Oh, really? Even with the cops under our belt and soon to be gone, the goddamn federal government is sure as hell gonna notice numerous dead bodies full of bullets in one of the biggest fast-food restaurants in America!"

"So what? By the time that happens, we'll all be paid and living it up in Jamaica."

"Lars, you-"

Lars, his robotic arm changing to its gun form, pointed his arm gun straight at Dax's head, preparing to kill him.

"You'd better watch your mouth, white boy. Since Gravity's the one paying us, I doubt I'll need you for that paycheck, let alone if he'd care about one less employee to pay." Lars said.

Wes, not willing to let his best friend be killed, pointed his own gun to Lars' head, threatening him to back off.

"Funny you should mention Gravity having one less employee to pay, because I've wanted you out of here since your first screw-up." Wes said.

Dax took notice of Mike and Jared keeping out of the affair, not taking a side in the standoff.

"Mike, Jared, you boys with us on getting this asshole off the team or not?" Dax asked.

"I don't know, man. He's right about one thing. Less of us means the rest of us get more dough." Mike said.

"Yeah, man. We were in this for mayhem and fun, and that's what Lars is mostly about. You, on the other hand, don't give a shit about anything but skating and surfing. Sure, that's fun, but there's other ways to have fun, too." Jared said.

Mike and Jared pulled their guns onto Wes, making yet another link in the line of standoffs occurring.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the crowd of people, Sam and Reggie took notice of the altercation happening under the boardwalk, seeing the tense moment about to burst into a haze of gunfire.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Sam asked.

"I wish I wasn't." Reggie said.

"We'd better get over there."

"Yep."

* * *

Under the boardwalk, Otto, being in the middle, found himself in a split state. While he was now against Lars for his mass murder at Good Burger, he found himself not quite sure whether to side with Dax or not, considering how he wanted him to shoot another man.

After a careful moment of deciding the lesser of two evils, Otto made his choice.

"Hey, man, you better quit this. You turn this into some bloody mess, the construction'll stop, and none of us get paid. We have a job to do-" Otto began to say.

Lars took out a handgun and put it to Otto's head, giving a smile as he did so.

"He hasn't complained about the Good Burger, so I doubt he'll complain about a few dozen more bodies here. Besides, I could always just blow the rest of this town away with this cool arm, rob a few banks, and head down to Tijiuana to snort some coke out of a hooker's asshole. What'd you think about that, Rocket Dork? What'd you-" Lars began to say.

Before Lars could finish his sentence, the sound of another gun cocking was heard, leading Lars turned to face where it came from. Standing behind him was Ray Rocket, holding a revolver to his head.

"Take that gun off my son, punk. I don't care what you do to those other people, but you leave my son alone." Ray said.

Lars, wanting to keep himself alive, calmly met his request by lowering his handgun, while still keeping his gun arm on Dax.

"So, what's the deal, pops? Otto got you to have his back?" Lars asked.

"No. I came here to get my son out of this mess he got himself in. I know what really happened at Good Burger. I don't care what happens to any of you, but you're not hurting my son." Ray replied.

"Raymundo, believe me, I didn't do any of that shit at Good Burger, and neither did Twister. I was off somewhere else-" Otto began to say.

"The Skatopia. I know. Don't think you and I won't have a talk about this."

"Dad, it's not what you think."

"That's what they all say."

"No, dad, just listen for a second. You kept telling me about doing something more productive with my life. I never listened to you because I just wanted to live my life without having to take responsibility. I went after these guys after they blew up Sam's store because I thought I could do some good for once and maybe make you proud for once. Later, they told me their whole thing about fixing Ocean Shores. The city's going downhill, and Alex Gravity's trying to make it better, and he's gonna pay us. I'm giving you some of my money when this is over."

"Otto... Son... You don't have to make me proud or give me your money. I was acting selfish. I didn't think about what _you_ wanted. But this is all wrong. You can't just wreck a whole city so some millionaire can buy it up, especially not when dealing with people like this. I already lost your mother once. I refuse to lose any more people I love. You just come home with me right now and we can forget about this."

"Hey, _putos_ , if you two are done sharing your Hallmark movie moment, you two might wanna turn your attention to more pressing matters right now." Lars interrupted.

"And what could be more pressing to a punk like you than my gun to your head?"

* * *

On top of the boardwalk...

"...and with all my paperwork in order, construction of Gravity City will begin in less than a month, with an opening date within 6 months, at which time I will make my new announcement, something that will change the face of skateboarding, something that will defy the very laws of physics itself. Thank you very much, and have a sun-sational day in Ocean Shores." Alex Gravity finished.

With Alex Gravity's speech finally at an end, the crowd gave a loud cheer with the conclusion of the event.

* * *

Under the boardwalk...

"I believe that _this_ would be the more pressing thing, Raymundo." Lars said.

Lars finished his sentence by holding his handgun in the air and firing through the boardwalk, hitting Alex Gravity in his shoulder. With the sound of the gunshot heard among the bystanders, the crowd immediately went into a panic, causing the standoff between the Rippers to break off, each escaping from the other's gunpoint hold and escaping.

During the confusion, Lars dropped his handgun in Otto's hands, leading him to gather attention from the police, all rushing to the scene.

"Freeze!" The police said.

"What?! No, no, it wasn't me! It was the dude with the robot arm!" Otto yelled.

"Shut the hell up and freeze!"

Reggie, rushing to save Otto from the police, ran in front of him, blocking the police's line of fire.

"He's telling the truth! The guy you want is Lars Rodriguez! He's getting away right now!" Reggie said.

"Lady, get out of the way now!" The police said.

"Hey, pig, you should've done what the lady said! Maybe you could've gotten a few more seconds to live trying to find me!" Lars said.

After hearing his call, the police turned to face Lars, who subsequently gunned down the officers with a crooked smile on his face.

"Oink-oink, bang-bang, little piggies!" Lars said.

"What the hell, Lars?! You killed cops?!" Otto shouted.

"No, pal, _you_ killed those cops. You're the one with the gun, aren't you? At least, that's as far as the news showed. And by this time tomorrow, all my messes are gonna be on you."

"And what about all these eyewitnesses?"

Lars stopped for a moment and looked to the still-panicking crowd, contemplating his next move.

"Good point. Thanks for the tip, Rocket Dork. Too bad you gotta take the fall for this, you might be smarter than I thought." Lars said.

Preparing to deal with the crowd, Lars punched Otto in the face with his robotic arm, stunning him long enough to carry out his next deed.

After climbing up to the boardwalk, shooting two security agents as he went, Lars kicked down the podium, preparing his next attack. Changing his arm into its flamethrower mode, Lars unleashed a tsunami of fire upon the panicking crowd, burning nearly everyone in the crowd alive, polluting the beach with agonized screams and the smell of charred flesh.

All the time of the massacre, Lars once again smiled as he incinerated numerous innocent people, basking in their pain and suffering, taking in all the carnage that he wrought.

" _I always wanted to say this..._ **I** _ **LOVE**_ **THE SMELL OF NAPALM IN THE MORNING!** " Lars shouted.

Ready to put a stop to the massacre, Otto rushed and tackled Lars, pinning him to the ground. Following through with his attack, Otto landing several punches to Lars' face, leaving some large bruises on his face. Lars, not ready to be stopped so easily, immediately returned the favor by delivering a sharp punch to Otto's face using his metal arm once again, sending him on his back.

With his target on his back, Lars prepared to shoot Otto in the face, ending his life.

"I should say something really cool and badass, but I just really want you dead, so I won't bother, Rocket Dork." Lars said.

Before Lars could fire his shot, Reggie jumped on his back, heavily scratching at his face, landing enough bleeding cuts to get blood in his eyes.

"Get off my brother, you one-armed psycho!" Reggie yelled.

"Agh! Get off me, you crazy bitch!" Lars yelled.

Reaching a full 360 degrees with his robotic arm, Lars grabbed Reggie and threw her several feet away, temporarily stunning her as well.

Before he could move on to Otto again, Lars was next met with a strong tackle and several punches from Ray Rocket, using his larger size to his advantage against Lars' slender figure. Lars, after recovering from his attack, prepared himself for a boxing match with Ray, ready to fight like a man for once in his life.

Ray prepared to punch Lars again, throwing several swings and hooks to his face. Lars, being younger and more agile, dodged each of his punches, though not without difficulty doing so.

Ready to land in his own attacks, Lars threw his own punches, missing some punches, but landing some good punches as well, cracking a few of Ray's ribs and knocking out a few of his teeth.

"You know, you're not half bad for being an old man." Lars taunted.

"Shut up." Ray said.

After taking a second to recover, Ray prepared to throw another punch to Lars, aiming to end the fight. Just before his punch got far, however, Lars caught Ray's fist in his robotic hand, twisting his hand and causing him to fall to his knees in pain.

Lars finished his attack with a kick to Ray's side, knocking him down for the count and out of his mind.

"Damn. I gotta say, this arm kicks ass. I almost want both of my arms like this." Lars said.

With Ray, Otto, and Reggie down and stunned, Lars prepared to kill all three off, ending all of his enemies in one shot. Before doing so, however, something in the corner of his eye gave him an idea on how to make the experience more fun.

Lars took a look to the Shore Shack, getting an idea on how to hurt the Rockets more personally. Ready to kill _all_ of the Rockets, Lars began to enter the Shore Shack, in search of Tito and Noelani. Stepping inside the restaurant, Lars began to tauntingly sniff into the air, ready to seek out the occupants.

The two occupants in question, Tito and Noelani, cowered in a corner, trying to hide from Lars' insane wrath.

" _E ke Akua, e k_ _ōkua mai iā mākou_ , somebody please help us..." Noelani whimpered.

" _Keep it down, Noelani. We'll be fine. He can't find us if he doesn't hear us._ " Tito said.

"Oh, fat boy, I know you're back here. I'm also guessing that Ray's wife, that stupid cousin of yours is back there too. Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you... much. I just wanna kill you both in front of Ray Rocket so I can get that old man back for attacking me, not to mention make Otto cry like a little bitch when I kill his whole goddamn family." Lars called.

Praying not to be found and killed, Tito and Noelani continued to hide in their corner, staying as quiet as possible. Lars, intent on finding the two, continued to search for them.

" _We're going to die, Tito, we're going to die-_ " Noelani began to whisper.

" _We're not gonna die, Noelani. All we gotta do is stay here and stay quiet._ " Tito said.

"Or so you thought." Lars said.

Upon hearing the voice so close to them, Tito and Noelani turned to the source of the voice to see Lars Rodriguez standing before them both. Not prepared to die, the two gasped and shivered in fear as Lars prepared to kill them both.

" _Aloha_ , you ugly orange bastards." Lars said.

Lars sent the mental command to his arm to shoot them, but the command was not met with the event he was hoping for, as his arm was out of ammunition. As the gun clicked empty, Tito and Noelani gave a yelp of fear, subsequently getting a short sense of false hope.

"Hmm. Out of bullets. Fine with me, that just means we just do it the messy way!" Lars said.

Lars' arm turned to its chainsaw form, the chainsaw revving loudly, sending Tito and Noelani in terror. Before he could murder Tito and Noelani, however, something prevented him from doing so. Coming from out of nowhere, a plate flew across the room and hit Lars in the head, shattering to glass shards and cutting the back of his head.

When Lars turned to see where the plate came from, he saw Otto standing in the doorway, back, recovered, and ready to fight him once again.

"Leave them alone, Lars, it's me you want." Otto said.

"Fair enough, let's get it on, you overgrown Oompa Loompa!" Lars shouted.

Lars immediately pounced on Otto, landing several punches with his human hand to savor the fight, not wanting to knock him out just yet. Before he could land in more punches, Lars was subsequently kicked off by Otto, sending him landing against a wall. where several kitchen utensils landed on him. Several sharp knives managed to land minor cuts on his arm, causing him to start bleeding further.

"What are you two doing?! Get out of here!" Otto shouted.

"No way, brutha. We're staying with you." Tito said.

"There's no time to argue, guys, just go!"

"Otto, please, we can help you-" Noelani began to say.

" _ **I SAID GO, NOW!**_ "

Otto pushed Tito and Noelani out of the restaurant to save them from any danger, while turning his own attention back to him to deal more damage towards Lars for his despicable act of trying to murder the people he loved.

Before Lars could get back up again, Otto approached him and landed several more punches in his face, giving him a severe nosebleed.

Before he could lose consciousness, Lars grabbed a knife from the floor and began slicing at Otto with it, causing him to back away to safety.

"You know, I'm really just wasting my time with this kid's toy when I should be using a man's tools!" Lars said.

Tossing the knife aside, Lars changed his arm back to its chainsaw form, revving it loudly. With the chainsaw ready to slice at anything, Lars rushed Otto with it, preparing to finally kill him.

Using all his strength, Lars swung several slashes at Otto, hoping to land in a fatal cut. With the bulk of the chainsaw making it hard for Lars to wield easily, Otto managed to evade the swings with little challenge, with Lars only managing to hit several parts of the Shore Shack instead.

Finally, Lars took one last swing at Otto with his chainsaw arm, hoping to finally land his killing swing. Lars missed yet again, but this time, he hit a propane line, causing it to spray the toxic chemicals in his face. With the spray separating the two, Otto and Lars both took the opportunity to back away each other and recover from the fight.

"You might as well give up, Lars, it's all over now. Even with the cops paid off by Alex Gravity, there's no way they're gonna let you go after killing cops and all those people. Gravity'll cut you loose, maybe have you killed." Otto said.

"That's where you're wrong, _perra_. I'm loving every waking moment being a Ripper now, and I'm not gonna stop until I tear this town a new asshole and fill it up with my huge cock!" Lars said.

"You expect me to take that line seriously, Lars?"

"No, Rocket Dork, _**I EXPECT YOU TO DIE!**_ "

Lars followed his last sentence by a grenade fired from his arm, landing just next to the broken propane lines, and jumped off the balcony into the water to safety, leaving Otto to his death.

As Otto looked at the grenade and realizing his own doom, time began to slow down around him, causing him to regret his recent life decisions up to this point. In a confused mess of motivations ranging from trying to please his father to finding a purpose in his life, Otto had sided with criminals to destroy the city he grew up in and loved so much, hoping to fill a hole in his heart.

Now, in his final moments, Otto finally realized how wrong he was, realizing how much damage he had done not only to his friends, family, and city, but also to himself. Rather than try to waste his last seconds wishing he could have done it all over again, Otto tried his best to come to terms with his own death before the grenade detonated, trying to make his death a peaceful one.

As he closed his eyes to brace for the impact, however, someone entered the Shore Shack, trying to save Otto from this threat. That someone was Ray Rocket, rushing to save his son at all costs.

" _ **OTTO, GET DOWN!**_ " Ray yelled.

Before Otto could question or even realize what Ray was doing, Ray tackled Otto and wrapped himself around him, providing as much cover from the explosion as possible.

Finally, the grenade detonated, creating a massive explosion with the combination of the propane gas. With the gas fueling the blast, the explosion managed to grow so large that it completely destroyed the Shore Shack, and even damaged its neighboring building, leaving a giant mushroom cloud of smoke in the air.

After several minutes for the smoke to clear up, when the flames finally died down, Otto got up from the explosion, coughing from the heavy smoke still remaining. Amazed that he had survived the explosion, Otto rushed back to Ray, sharing the news with his father.

"Whoa, dad, we actually survived that! That was so awesome, how did you-" Otto began to say.

Upon looking down at his father, Otto realized that Ray was not moving nor breathing, his body heavily charred from the explosion.

"Dad? Dad?!" Otto called.

Upon turning Ray on his back, Otto was met with the horrific sight of seeing half of his father's face burnt to a crisp, breaking his childish notion that his father survived the explosion.

His father is dead, and he gave his life to save his.

"Oh, god, no. Dad, no! Please don't be dead! Please don't be dead!" Otto called.

Otto grabbed Ray's body, shaking him in a misguided attempt to wake him up, hoping his father would wake up just fine. Unfortunately, after much vigorous shaking, Ray did not wake up, proving that he was dead.

In the middle of Otto's panicking, Reggie, Twister, Sam, Tito and Noelani arrived at the scene, investigating the mess.

"Otto? What happened, where did-" Reggie began to ask.

Upon looking down to Otto's viewpoint, Reggie saw that their father was dead, just as Otto had realized. Unable to accept the horrific sight that was in her eyes, Reggie immediately fell to the floor and broke down crying, sitting over her father's body alongside Otto. Sam came to comfort Reggie, and Twister came to comfort Otto. Noelani and Tito, sitting alongside Ray's dead body, also joined in the moment to grieve as well, leaving them all in a circle of misery.

As emergency medical services continued to clean up the massacre, the group all continued to grieve over the death of Ray Rocket, his life taken while saving his son's.


	17. Chapter 16: Falling Out

**CHAPTER 16: FALLING OUT**

As the horrific carnage of the massacre on the beaches of Ocean Shores began its cleanup, the terror wrought out covered nationwide, many of the Rippers began making their way off the scene, a simple setup to further Alex Gravity's plans taking a severe left turn for the worse.

Rushing into the VIP section of Zero Gravity Zone, Dax Jett and his best friend Wes made their way back, catching their breath from the heavy running they both had to endure to escape the authorities.

Needless to say, neither of the two were impressed with Lars' actions, Dax least of all.

"Un-goddamn-believable! What the hell was that idiot thinking?!" Dax shouted.

"Now, Dax, it may not be best to make any rash judgements now, even with Lars'... less than beneficial choices." Wes argued.

"Oh, 'less than beneficial'? First, he betrays us, then, he gets Jared and Mike to turn on us, and, finally, he slaughtered a whole bunch of people on TV! _National_ TV! He turned us into America's most wanted!"

"Fair point, but people still don't know who we are and they only made reference to Lars, not The Rippers. We can still walk away from this."

"No, we can't. Alex Gravity's sure as hell not gonna like that 3 of our guys insubordinated me and turned a simple press conference into a goddamn bloodbath. This isn't just smashing up a few mom-and-pop stores in the middle of nowhere, no, now people know we're here, and our cover is completely blown! We've already got Gravity breathing down our necks, now, we're gonna get the FBI, National Guard, and god knows who else! I can't survive like this-"

Before Dax could further any of his rants, Wes pulled him tight for a kiss, temporarily ending his troubles of the massacre committed by Lars Rodriguez. Dax, finding solitude in the moment with the one person he considered his best friend, and maybe even his lover, managed to put aside his fears and worries just for a moment, remembering the company of his best friend.

"Look, don't worry about it. We've been doing this for years, remember? And all this time, it's always been you and me against the world, causing some mayhem to fund our endless summer." Wes said.

"I know, I know. I haven't forgotten. But this is our biggest job yet, and not once, not _once_ , did a single innocent person get killed. We always worked non-lethal. That's how we stayed so good. Besides, seeing that... that _thing_ just burn up all those people like that... I've never seen a person die, especially not by being burned alive like a goddamn war zone. All those people..." Dax said.

"I don't like the fact that innocent people are dead any more than you do, but there's nothing we can do about it now. I always told you, 'look to the future'. There's no use dwelling on the past."

"I know that, Wes, but... but I gave him that arm. I gave him all those weapons. I should've known better. I should've known from the moment I saw him. We should've killed his ass when he crashed the damn board!"

"He was just a punk. You couldn't have known that he was capable of that. Hell, even Mike couldn't do that, and he's the craziest one we ever recruited. Alright? This isn't Hillwood, not all people just go up and start killing out of nowhere here."

"Well, maybe it _is_ Hillwood. I mean, that place is ground zero for all these superheroes and supervillains popping up everywhere. Maybe it's some kind of domino effect, making all these people like Lars turn crazy. I should've seen it."

"Hey, just forget about all that. We can handle Lars. We gave him that arm, so we can take it away, too. At least then, we can put a stop to all the killing. After that, we tell Gravity we're out of here. With Mike and Wes betraying us, we can get out of here, end the Rippers. We'll take what we have, move to someplace small, where there's not a single corporate interest for miles, and we skate and surf our hearts out."

Wes took Dax's hand and held it tightly.

"Just the two of us. Like old times." Wes said.

Dax thought over Wes' words for a moment, contemplating his next move carefully after taking the advice of his best friend.

"Okay, you're right. I started this, I'm gonna put an end to it. I'll disband the Rippers, tell Alex Gravity we quit, and then give that one-armed methhead a one-way ticket to Hell." Dax said.

As Dax finished his sentence, the door to the VIP section of Zero Gravity Zone opened, with the sounds of multiple footsteps heading inside. As the footsteps grew louder, the causation of the footsteps was revealed to be Alex Gravity, Mike, Jared, and, last but not least, Lars Rodriguez, the latter smiling smugly after wreaking his carnage.

"Looks like we're up." Dax said.

"Yep." Wes said.

Alex Gravity, still in pain from his gunshot wound, gave his arm a stretch, trying to find a comfortable position to relieve his pain.

"Goddammit, kid, you think you could've picked a less painful spot to shoot, like an ear?" Alex Gravity asked.

"Well, maybe, but, to be honest, I didn't care enough to make a painless shot. Besides, you wanted that shit believable? People are sure as hell gonna believe a Mexican super-badass is ready to blow shit up down in Ocean Shores if they saw that on TV." Lars said.

Taking notice of Lars in the entering group, Dax immediately rushed towards him, targeting him with murderous intent.

"Oh, hey, Dax, no hard feelings about the whole betrayal thing, right-" Lars began to ask.

Before Lars could finish his sentence, Dax delivered a sharp punch to his face, knocking him back a good foot before regaining his consciousness and rushing back to Dax.

"What the hell was that for, you asshole?!" Lars asked.

"What the hell do you _think_ it was for, _YOU ASSHOLE?!_ " Dax screamed.

"So, what I killed a few people, you wanted these losers out of Ocean Shores, what better way to send 'em out than to send 'em to the afterlife? Pretty easy way to get rid of these people, if you ask me."

"First of all, WE DO NOT KILL PEOPLE. That's how we stayed undiscovered for years. Second,

"Hey, man, I did my job! Get off my back!"

"Our job was to stage an assassination attempt on Gravity, not murder half his patrons! Are you out of your goddamn mind?!"

"Patrons? What the hell's a patron?"

"You know, patrons? Somebody who, when the park opens, pays to enter, as in, future customers?"

"Oh... Yeah... Well, hell, not my problem once I get paid. Besides, this nigga's making the whole damn city into a skate park. Ain't that gonna pull way more patrons around everywhere, therefore, making people around here not a problem?"

"Actually, yes, Lars, that's an excellent point." Alex Gravity said.

"What?! You're siding with this psychopath?!" Dax asked.

"This 'psychopath's' methods may be brutal and unorthodox, but he got the job done, better than I could have imagined." Alex Gravity said.

"'Better'?! How the hell is bringing national attention on us better?!"

"Well, as Hillwood has all these supervillians popping out of the woodwork, it just goes to show that, with supervillains in Ocean Shores, even the quiet places are no more safe than the big cities. As no one wants to live in a city with a supervillain running around causing terror, that leaves me room to clean the city up, re-brand it, and declare it safe, making me, in unofficial terms, the hero in this situation."

Dax, not expecting Alex Gravity to concoct such a complex plan to obtain the all of Ocean Shores, found himself slightly impressed, but still shocked, upon hearing the plan. Still, it didn't distract him from his goal.

"Impressive as your thinking is, it doesn't matter now. Me and Wes are done. The Rippers are over." Dax said.

"Bullshit, it's over, Dax. We've been in this for years." Jared said.

"And not one of those damn years did you ever turn your back on me. Don't think I haven't forgotten having a damn gun in my face because you two wanted to side with the psycho. What the hell were you thinking?"

"Like we said, we were in this to cause some mayhem. With a job this big, you haven't given us much to work with. Lars, on the other hand, is tons more fun." Mike said.

"Gentlemen, as much as I'm enjoying this feud, I have other plans today, starting with another press meeting after today. Mr. Rodriguez, since you seem to have become the new leader of the Rippers, I'd like you to kill Dax and Wes."

Despite the order to kill them both, Lars found himself in a state of indecision towards the fate of Dax and Wes, not taking the order seriously, just as he never takes anything seriously.

"Well, I'm not sure about that, man. Sure, they're dicks, but these guys did give me this cool arm..." Lars said.

After finishing his sentence, Lars immediately changed his arm to its gun form and aimed it straight at Dax, preparing to end his life.

"Just messing with you, _ese_." Lars said.

With no hesitation following the end of his sentence, Lars fired a shot straight for Dax, ready to watch him die. Before the shot fired, however, Wes stepped in front of Dax, sacrificing himself to save his best friend. Dax, not expecting Wes to give his life to save his, found himself in a state of surprise and despair, not ready to see his best friend die.

Wes, delivering one last message to his best friend, turned to say one last thing.

" _Run._ " Wes choked.

As soon as Wes' body fell dead on the floor, Dax followed through with his best friend's last word, immediately running out of the building. Lars, not ready to let him get away, continued firing at him, hoping to land a killing shot. Dax, agile enough to avoid the gunfire, managed to get out of the building, swiping Otto's damaged hoverboard as he ran out.

Lars, not ready to let him get away, prepared to run after him, only to be stopped by Alex Gravity.

"Let him go. He can't stop me now." Alex Gravity said.

"What, are you kidding me? What's to stop him from calling the damn F.B.I. and sending 'em after us?" Lars asked.

"He'd also have to confess to a lifetime of numerous crimes in the name of corporate interests. Only the politicians can get away with that."

"Then what's to stop him from coming back with some buddies?"

"Like who? Otto and those kids? Not likely they'll side with him. Even if they did, it's not like they could stand a chance."

"So, now what, then?"

"Now, I handle my press conference and tell them my story. For now, why don't you boys pack up here? Now that you've done your jobs, I'll take you somewhere where you can lay low for a few months, give me enough time to do what I need. Does Rio de Janerio sound good?"

* * *

At the abode of Otto and Twister, Otto, Reggie, Twister, Sam, Tito, and Noelani all continued to try to get over the tragic events of earlier, all mourning the loss of their beloved Ray Rocket.

Otto, having sided with the Rippers for several days now, took his father's death the worst. Not only had he been working with the very people bent on destroying Ocean Shores to make way for a giant theme park, but never had he made proper amends with his father after their numerous fights.

"I can't believe he's dead. I just can't believe he's dead." Otto said.

Noelani, still trying her best to be a good mother to Otto, sat down next to him, trying to support him while trying to find support for herself.

"Otto, it's okay, it's hard for all of us too. It'll be alright, we're here for you." Noelani said.

"But it's all my fault. None of this would've happened if I'd have just tried to stop the Rippers. I mean, these were the bad guys, and I was one of them, and I shoved all of you guys off because I thought they were my real friends. Now, these people killed my dad, and I never even got to make things right with him."

"Otto, you can't blame yourself for what happened. We saw what happened. It was all Lars. What happened today was his fault, not yours."

"But my dad's dead. And I didn't even try to make up with him since that fight. He could've still hated me."

"He sacrificed himself to save you. I think that's a pretty good sign that he still loved you."

"That doesn't change the fact that he's dead and it's my fault."

"But it's not your fault, Otto."

"Bullshit. It's _all_ your fault, Otto." Reggie said.

"Reg, I know Ray's gone, but this _really_ isn't the time-" Sam began to say.

"Everything's your fault, Otto. Like you said, if you hadn't joined The Rippers in the first place, none of this would've happened and Dad would still be here."

"Reggie, please, I don't want you two to fight, no one here is to blame-" Noelani began to say.

"And why are you just now acting like you care, Otto? You couldn't care less about him as shown by our last dinner party, and now you wanna act like you had some deep connection with him?! Do you always have to make everything about you?!"

"About me?! Dad's dead, Reggie! How the hell can I possibly make this about me?! It's _you_ who's making this about you! I may not have had the best relationship with Dad, but at least I tried something!" Otto said.

"No, you didn't! You never did anything useful in your whole life! It was you who constantly got into trouble! It was you who sabotaged everything to bring some sense of peace to this family! It was you who tried to get rid of Noelani for your own sake!"

"What peace in the family? You were always busy with your face buried in your work, and you didn't even bother talking to any of us until all the shit with the Rippers went down! And you wanna accuse _me_ of trying to get rid of Noelani? Who was it who said she couldn't replace mom, and nearly have her leave us and make Dad miserable, you delusional bitch?!"

With Otto's last argument infuriating her to a point of no return, Reggie immediately tackled Otto with an angry scream, punching him several times in his face.

Otto, trying to get Reggie off, returned with by grabbing her fist and kicking her off, jumping on her and strangling her on the floor, with Reggie strangling back. Neither side ready to let the other win, the two siblings began to turn their fight into a viscous struggle of kicking, scratching, and pulling, both parties tumbling on the floor.

As the two siblings fought each other with murderous intent, Noelani found herself unable to withstand the remainder of the family fighting so visciously, beginning to cover her ears and cry. Meanwhile, Tito and Sam intervened between the two, trying to stop the fight.

With Tito grabbing Otto and Sam grabbing Reggie, and after several minutes of the two struggling get free, the two were finally separated, beginning to calm down.

As Otto and Reggie calmed themselves down, each of their captors loosened their grips, leaving them just enough room to break free, rushing towards each other yet again.

After breaking free and reaching each other, Tito and Sam tried to catch the two again, but stopped upon seeing what the Otto and Reggie did next. Instead of fighting, the two embraced each other tightly, trying to ease each other's pain over the loss of their father.

"I'm sorry, Otto, it's not your fault. I shouldn't have said that." Reggie said.

"It's okay, Reggie, I shouldn't have said those things either." Otto said.

As Otto and Reggie began to make amends with each other, Noelani began to cry more heavily at the sight of the two fighting.

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault. Tito and I were watching the Shore Shack, and Ray was leaving into the crowd, but we didn't stop Ray from leaving. We got him killed. _I_ got him killed. Now, my two stepchildren are fighting each other because of me, what I've done. I've been nothing but a burden to this family. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Noelani said.

As Noelani began to cry again, Otto and Reggie immediately rushed to comfort her, not letting her take the blame for the death of Ray.

"You're not a burden on this family, Noelani. You've been nothing but great to us. Don't ever think for a second that you've been a burden on us. And I'm sorry that I said all those years ago that you couldn't replace my mom. It wasn't fair of me to compare you. You were there when we needed you, and you're here now. You're more of a part of this family then you'll ever realize. It's not your fault." Reggie reassured.

As Reggie finished her sentence, another individual entered the house, aiming to bring a stop to the Rippers. That individual was Dax Jett.

"You're right. It's not your fault. It's mine." Dax said.

Otto, extremely displeased to see Dax, immediately rushed to him and pinned him against the wall, ready to kill him. Dax, coming in peace, did not fight back, allowing Otto to let out his aggression.

" _YOU?! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE?! YOU KILLED MY DAD! YOU GAVE LARS THAT DAMN ROBOT ARM!_ " Otto screamed.

"I did, and I realize my mistake. I'm sorry." Dax said.

"Oh, you're sorry?! What the hell makes you think 'I'm sorry' is gonna bring my dad back?!"

"It's not. I know. I didn't come here to fight you. I came to tell you that Gravity's trying to fly Lars and the Rippers out of the country, and this could be our only chance to stop them."

"'Our' only chance? Lets say for a minute that I didn't think that this was some kind of stupid attempt to try to pull me in a trap, what makes you think you have any place working with us?"

"I don't. This is personal for me just as it is you now."

"And how is that? Did they take somebody from you that meant a lot to you in your life right in front of you?"

"Yes. They killed Wes."

Upon hearing the news of his best friend and on-and-off lover dying, Otto slowly released his grip on Dax, giving him room to breathe and tell his story.

"Wes and I were the best of friends growing up. I was an outgoing guy who did just about every crazy stunt imaginable, Wes was a shy kid who was never comfortable with himself. Everybody made fun of him for being gay, but I never did. If it weren't for him, I might've never known I was panromantic. I never really cared for people in terms of sex that much, but he changed that. I always liked him, and he liked me. From that point on, it was just us against the world. We founded the Rippers, did crazy stuff for money, and didn't care about anybody, fueling our endless little summer together. Then, I watched that psycho Lars shoot at him. No, not at him. He was going to shoot me, but he stepped in the way, saving my life. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him." Dax said.

The whole group, taking sympathy on Dax and his history with Wes, began to shed light tears for him, another tragic death added to that of theirs.

"I'm sorry, dude. I didn't know." Otto said.

"I know, but there's no use dwelling on it now. If we really want to honor the people we love, we need to stop Alex Gravity and the rest of the Rippers." Dax said.

"And how exactly do you think we're going to do that?" Sam asked.

Dax pulled out the hoverboard he stole from Zero Gravity Zone, displaying it before the group.

"Jared told me you were able to understand how the board worked and even recognized the nuclear components and fail-safes. Do you think you could be able to take the parts from this board and make us more boards, maybe even some weapons?" Dax asked.

"You... want me to... make more boards... out of that broken board? I told you that thing's nuclear. That'd be like playing with fire." Sam said.

"Not exactly. The power source is nuclear, but self-contained. This one's damaged, but the rest of the parts are good to use."

Dax pulled a handful of nuclear power sources from his pocket, displaying them before the group.

"Besides, I managed to swipe a few more cores on my way out. We should have plenty of parts to work with. If I were to help you, can it be done?" Dax asked.

Sam thought over the scenario for a moment, thinking over each and every possibility on how he could construct weapons with the cores.

"Let's say for a moment I can work with it. Aside from hoverboards, what else do you suggest I build?" Sam asked.

"You guys are sports enthusiasts, just imagine what we could build with what we have. Hockey sticks? Anti-gravity tech'll give the impact more punch. Safety gloves? Anti-gravity tech'll give it more punch. Hockey pucks? Anti-gravity tech'll make 'em pulse grenades. Just imagine." Dax said.

Sam, not fully content with Dax's offer, looked to the rest of the group for and answer.

"I'm down. We'll avenge Dad, stop Alex Gravity, and save Ocean Shores. Sounds good to me." Reggie said.

"Hey, brutha, I'm too old for this game, but I got faith you cuzes can pull this off." Tito said.

"I believe you can do it. Our hearts and prayers will be with you." Noelani said.

"Well, I think the consensus says 'yes'. What about you, Otto?" Sam asked.

"Not just yet. There's one more guy we need onboard." Otto said.

"One more? Who's- Oh, right..."

"That's right. Twister. We need him."

"I don't know, Otto. He's still not over Good Burger. You might not get a word into him."

"He's my best bud. I gotta try."

* * *

Heading inside Twister's bedroom, Otto found Twister on his bed, still sitting uncomfortably after the traumatic experience he went through at Good Burger. With the recent fight that went on between the two, seeing Otto was not exactly the best thing for Twister in his worst moment.

"What do you want, man? I'm not in a good mood." Twister asked.

"I found out what happened at Good Burger. I'm sorry that happened, man." Otto said.

" _You're_ sorry? Otto, I was there when Lars shot all those people to death. I could've stopped him, but I didn't. I was too afraid. I let those people die."

"You shouldn't be hard on yourself, man. Anybody'd be scared shitless in your position."

"No, they wouldn't. _Somebody_ would've stopped Lars, _somebody_ would have done something. I made a stupid decision."

"You wanna talk about stupid decisions, man? Get a load of this. Dax and the Prodigy are the Rippers."

"What?"

"And I helped them drive Skatopia out of business. They convinced me that Ocean Shores was dying, and letting the town go empty was the best way to fix it."

"Otto, are you nuts, man? How could you-"

"And Lars killed my dad. I realize now what an idiot I've been. Now, I've decided that I'm gonna stop them, like we planned, and we're all gonna do it together. Dax switched sides, and he as a way to help us stop them. But I need you on this, too, man."

"I don't know, Otto, I'm sorry your dad died, but you've been a real jerk to me lately. I started to think that neither of us were friends anymore."

"C'mon, Twister. We've known each other way too long for that. Sure, we fight over some stupid shit now and then, but what's life without fighting over stupid shit now and then? C'mon, pal, I need my best bud on this."

Otto extended his hand out for a familiar handshake, awaiting Twister to meet his handshake. Twister, thinking over his options, looked to Otto's hand, then back at Otto again, still not sure if he was willing to renew their friendship.

After taking his moment to contemplate, Twister finally made his decision. Putting aside his petty fight with Otto for the greater good and their friendship, Twister met his hand with Otto's, sharing their famous handshake.

"Woogity woogity woogity woogity!" They both said.

After sharing a laugh, Otto and Twister shared a friendly hug, both glad to be friends again, patting each other on their backs.

Little did they know, however, that the rest of the occupants of the house were watching the friendly moment between the two, beginning to reinterpet the moment as something... too friendly.

"I've seen enough _yaoi_ to know where this is going." Reggie said.

Otto and Twister, finding themselves extremely disgusted with Reggie's suggestion, immediately backed away from each other, not wanting to be mistaken as a gay couple.

"What the hell?! No, that's not- We were-" Otto stammered.

"It was just a- We just- I-" Twister stammered.

"Just kidding, guys. You two are _seriously_ insecure." Reggie said.

"Uh, guys, I hate to break up the Kodak moment, but, now that we know where the Rippers are and now that we have a way to stop them, can we please get to work to stop these guys and save Ocean Shores?" Sam asked.

"You've got the right idea, cuz. We got a lot of work to do." Tito said.

* * *

[Soundtrack Cue: (hed) p.e. - Suck It Up]

Heading into the garage, Otto, Twister, Reggie, Sam, and Dax all prepared themselves for war, laying out all their tools, equipment and weapons to stop the Rippers.

On the table were: hockey sticks, baseball bats, several skateboards, a bag of hockey pucks, snow gloves, safety helmets, the nuclear power cores, and, of course, the damaged hoverboard.

Getting straight to work, Sam began disassembling the hoverboard under Dax's guidance, carefully laying out each much-needed part for the next part of their mission.

Sam, taking the gutted parts from the hoverboard, began forging replicant parts, preparing to fashion the new parts onto the skateboards, turning them into new hoverboards.

With each skateboard converted into hoverboards, Otto gave each board a rigorous testing, ensuring that they functioned perfectly. With Sam's technological genius and Dax's knowledge of the boards, each one worked perfectly, ready for the team to use.

Adding the anti-gravity nodes fashioned from that of the hoverboard's onto the hockey sticks, Sam managed to turn the hockey sticks into, as he simply called them, 'Gravity Sticks', capable of launching objects numerous feet away.

After numerous testing by Twister, launching soda cans and rocks numerous feet away, the Gravity Sticks, although not cleverly named, were more than capable of being useful in a fight.

Alongside the Gravity Sticks were constructed Gravity Bats, baseball bats constructed with the same anti-gravity nodes, similar to the Gravity Sticks, but no less deadly.

With a rigorous testing by Reggie, blasting several hurled baseballs and rocks into the sky, the Gravity Bats were also a success.

Taking a pair of snow gloves and adding anti-gravity nodes onto the wrists, next were created a pair of Gravity Fists, capable of adding a phyics-reinforced punch to anyone who used it.

Sam, testing the Gravity Fists on a tree, breaking it down from the middle, showed the gloves to have more of a punch than he was looking for.

Lastly, but certainly not least, the hockey pucks were attached with anti-gravity nodes, rendering them capable of creating a reverse flow of gravity, knocking back any objects within a 50 foot radius.

A testing conducted by Dax, slapping the Gravity Pucks towards a row of trash cans and subsequently blasting them several feet across the area, proved the weapon a success as well.

With the weapons complete, the team dressed themselves in a new team outfit, all made of Kevlar and customized in blue with green details. With their new battle suits ready, the team equipped their regular sports equipment over top, customizing their looks to their liking.

Twister, finally taking Sam's advice, added an advanced YoPro camera to the top of his helmet, ready to capture all the action to camera, equipping himself with a Gravity Stick.

Sam, after adding a PDA to his wrist, opted to equip himself with the Gravity Fists, having more body weight to add to his punches.

Reggie, taking the Gravity Pucks and holstering them to her suit, chose her main weapon as a Gravity Bat, more than ready to fight.

Otto, putting on his trademark red and white-striped helmet, equipped himself with a Gravity Stick and kicked up his hoverboard, ready to ride.

All four of them ready to fight the Rippers, the team immediately extended their hands for a familiar handshake, all saying 'Woogity woogity woogity!' as they did so.

Upon gearing up, the four all walked out through the garage door, ready for battle against the Rippers and ready to save Ocean Shores.

Dax, more than impressed with the newly-equipped and determined team to fight the Rippers, looked to his new team in confidence, ready to join them in battle.

"You guys ready?" Dax asked.

"Hell, yeah, man. More than we'll ever be." Otto said.

"You look ready. Let's roll out and avenge your dad."

The new team of 5 all began racing out on the streets of Ocean Shores, heading for their final destination: Zero Gravity Zone. More than ready to put an end to the threat of the Rippers and the corporate greed of Alex Gravity, Otto, Twister, Sam, Reggie, and Dax all prepared for war for their home.

[Soundtrack Cue End]


	18. Chapter 17: Bait and Switch

**CHAPTER 17: BAIT AND SWITCH**

Airing on national TV after the massacre that ensued at Ocean Shores' beach eariler today at a press conference, Alex Gravity gave a second interview with numerous news stations regarding the incident that occurred at his event.

" _Mr. Gravity, do you have any details on who this individual who attacked you is, and why he committed mass murder at your press conference earlier today?_ " A reporter asked.

" _I couldn't have less of a clue on who wants me dead if I tried. Ever since the incident in Hillwood, all these costumed sociopaths keep coming out of the woodworks to try to play with people's lives like a game. This just goes to prove that my project of Gravity City not only is a need to bring back the economy of Ocean Shores, but also its safety._ " Alex Gravity replied.

" _And what about the allegations of your denial of any knowledge of the Good Burger Massacre that took place? Have you any comment?_ " A different reporter asked.

" _I was not simply aware of the tragedy that took place, but, after searching for the topic, it seems that the massacre was also perpetrated by the same individual behind the massacre at the beach today._ "

" _Rumors about this individual have circulated that this terrorist has obtained his prosthetic weapon arm from Membrane Laboratories, an applied science laboratory based in Detroit. Have you any comment on this connection?_ " Another reporter asked.

" _Look, I don't know anything about this disturbed individual, but let's not make it about him or me. The authorities are doing everything in their power to find this man, and I am personally taking precautions to ensure my own safety. For now, our thoughts should be with the deceased and their loved ones, as they are the people who need it most. Now, if you'll excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, I have a plane to catch. Thank you very much._ "

As Alex Gravity began to walk away from the numerous cameras and reporters following him, the TV feed was shut off by the observing party, their boredom not satisfied with the news report. The observing party comprised of Lars, Mike, and Jared, awaiting their departure to escape criminal prosecution.

"You know, Gravity's not exactly a looker, but that camera lens does _not_ help him whatsoever." Mike said.

"Yeah. I can't tell if those were his face cheeks or his ass cheeks on camera. Dude should probably lose a few pounds." Lars said.

"'A few'? Maybe a number with 'a few' zeroes. How'd this guy end up as 'World's sexiest skateboarder' in the 70's?" Jared asked.

"I don't know, man. You look back at people in the 70's, people back then looked ugly as shit, even the ones supposed to be called 'sexy'. All those girls in the James Bond movies, they all looked saggy and shit. I guess all that cocaine made for some hella beer goggles, huh?" Mike asked.

"Hell, man, as much as I love bald teenage pussy, I'd definitely take an old bitch that knows how to please. Besides, since you brought up James Bond, have we forgotten that scene in _Dr. No_ where you see the girl's wet snatch? Ain't nothin' better to put in a movie than that." Lars said.

"Yeah, I guess you got a point there. Besides, if that ugly bastard Ron Jeremy did all those porno films, then I guess he did something right."

"You know, how is it that, even though people talk about Ron Jeremy a lot, nobody's actually seen one of his pornos? I mean, you see him make cameos in a lot of movies, but nobody actually goes to see what, you know, made him famous?" Jared asked.

"What, you wanna see a fat, naked hairy dude's ass?"

"No, man, I'm just saying, like, just to see it. You know, like, when you make fun of, like, Tommy Wiseau, you'd kind of have to see _The Room_ in order to fully get the reference, right? So, why not just watch them for the sake of saying you watched them?"

" _The Room_ is the kind of bad movie you watch to laugh your ass off at, something so completely bad that nobody else could do it like that. Ron Jeremy pornos are just pornos; nothing special, nothing substantial. You've seen one porno, you've seen them all. There's two, or more, naked people, preferably more women than men, the woman or women tickle the guy's pickle or the pickles of multiple guys, and the women lick up the mess like kittens under a cow udder." Lars said.

After Lars offered his comrades his simplistic breakdown of pornographic films, Mike and Jared began laughing hysterically at his comments, with Lars joining in the fun.

"Oh, man, you know, I wasn't sure if you were gonna be a good fit on this team, but, damn, you're a cool guy." Mike said.

"Hell, you guys gave me this robot arm. I love this thing. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed jerking off this much." Lars said.

"Oh, really? I may have to try one of those things." Jared said.

"Sorry, bro, I don't swing that way... unless, of course, the price is right."

"Damn, dude. You'd actually jerk off a guy for cash?" Mike asked.

"Like the saying goes, man: 'I'm not gay, but $20 is $20'."

Feeling uncomfortable from Lars' gay-for-pay tendencies, Mike and Jared sat in disgusted silence for a moment, subtly sliding away from Lars across the couch. After his desired effect had settled in, Lars began to laugh at both of them, successfully fulfilling his prank.

"Hell, no, man! I ain't never done a guy in my life, and never will. Got you going, though, didn't I?" Lars asked.

Upon realizing that all of Lars' statements were merely jokes, Mike and Jared all joined with Lars, laughing hysterically yet again.

As the three Rippers continued their fun, Alex Gravity walked into the room, visibly disappointed in his employees acting so blantantly immature.

"Are you three finished?" Alex Gravity asked.

"Oh, hey, Gravity, so, we ready to head out?" Jared asked.

"We are. The plane's waiting as we speak, so I suggest you grab your belongings and get out now."

"So, do we get any bitches in the plane with us? I'm looking forward to Brazilian big-booty bitches, but daddy needs an appetizer before his main course." Lars asked.

"Just pack up already. We don't have time to waste."

Before any of the Rippers could prepare to head out for the airplane for a vacation in Brazil, hiding away from the law, a loud crash was heard at the back garage door, leaving a large dent in the metal build of the door.

Alex Gravity and the Rippers, not expecting nor even knowing what this strange threat was, all took a startled step back, preparing themselves for whatever was coming.

"What the hell was that? A tank?" Lars asked.

"I doubt it, that'd have to be some weird-ass tank." Mike said.

"It can't be the law enforcement, they have no idea where we are!" Jared said.

"Whatever it is, you three better get on fighting it off." Alex Gravity said.

Another loud crash was heard, furthering the dent on the door, severely warping and damaging the metal.

"Oh, why do we gotta fight the weird-ass, metal-smashing, whatever-it-is behind that damn door?" Lars asked.

"Because: 1, I'm paying you to do it, 2, you're the one with that weapon arm!"

Another loud crash was heard, leaving the door just about to break down.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot. Well, hope whatever's back there has a prescription of 9 millimeter tablets, because I'm gonna overdose this bitch." Lars said.

One final crash came from behind the door, knocking the door down completely and showing the source of the crash. Standing on the threshold of the door were Otto, Twister, Reggie, Sam, and Dax, all armed with their anti-gravity weapons and ready to avenge their loved ones.

"Don't you punks ever go away?!" Lars asked.

"You killed somebody that mattered to us, Lars. There's no way in hell you're gonna get away from us now." Otto said.

"Oh, really? And why is that?"

"Because: 1, there's 5 of us and only 4 of you, and 2, we've got anti-gravity based weapons more than capable of putting you all down." Sam said.

"Your move, creep." Reggie said.

Lars and the Rippers, not amused by the group's approach to stop them, each pulled out their own weapons on the group; Mike and Jared with handguns, Lars with his machine gun arm.

Otto and the group, not having any weapons against guns, all realized that they were on the losing side of this fight, leaving them to contemplate their options.

"Uh... Is there a reason that you didn't give us bullet-proof stuff, Squid?" Otto asked.

"Well, I can build a few things, but I'm not made of ideas, damn it! How was I supposed to know they'd have guns?" Sam asked.

"Are you shitting me?! They've _always_ had guns! Lars has the giant one right on his goddamn arm! How the hell do you forget about that?!" Reggie asked.

"Cut me a break, even if I remembered that, I doubt I could've whipped up some kind of bullet force field!"

"So, how come you can build all this other stuff, but you can't make a force field? Even in like, comic books and stuff, the heroes always have some kind of force field!" Twister said.

"This is not a goddamn comic book, Twister! I'm a human being! I have weaknesses! I have defects! I have limitations!"

"So, you're telling me you could build an anti-gravity weapon out of a hockey stick and some parts from a broken hoverboard, but you can't use the same stuff to make a damn force field?!" Otto asked.

"If _you_ have an idea on how to build a force field, Otto, I'm all ears!"

As the inane and petty bickering tediously lingered on between the would-be saviors of Ocean Shores, Alex Gravity and the Rippers, seemingly forgotten about by the group, all stared at the arguing group in astounding and disbelief that such moronic bickering would occur right at their moment of entry.

Finally, not able to withstand the bickering any longer, Lars and the Rippers cocked their weapons, immediately putting a stop to the arguing of the group and turning their attention back to the threat in front of them.

"Okay, morons, you had your fun, now bicker all you want in hell!" Lars said.

"Wait! Don't kill them." Alex Gravity said.

"What? _Don't_ kill them? Didn't you want them dead not two damn seconds ago?"

"Not anymore. After listening into that bickering for a moment, they let out a few interesting details that beg more exploration. We're taking them with us."

"Seriously? What good are these idiots?"

"You'll see soon enough. Would you boys be so kind as to apprehend these 5 and take their weapons?"

Lars and the Rippers complied to their order, gathering the weapons of the group and restraining them, bringing them forwards to Alex Gravity after doing so.

"Now, then, who's ready for a fun-filled day in Brazil?" Alex Gravity asked.

* * *

Flying somewhere over Central America, the private jet of Alex Gravity continued its course to Rio de Janeiro, flying unsuspectingly to anyone looking for the perpetrators of the beach massacre of Ocean Shores. Resting inside the ship are Alex Gravity, the Rippers, and their hostages: Otto, Twister, Reggie, Sam, and Dax, seemingly defeated before the battle could even begin.

As the Rippers continued watching over their prisoners, Mike and Jared decided to look over the numerous inventions that Sam and Dax had created, impressed with his remarkable engineering skills. Mike, wearing the Gravity Fists, shadowboxed with his newfound weapons, finding the gloves to be very useful for his own fighting style.

"So, you call these Gravity Fists, huh? Not the most original name, but, I like these things. I bet you could punch through a car or something with these, right?" Mike asked.

"I only punched through a tree, but I managed to smash it down." Sam said.

"Not bad. I bet I could mess somebody up pretty good with this thing. I wonder how powerful a one inch punch would be with these things?"

"I doubt you'd do any real damage with those things, Mike. You may have been the rowdiest of the team, but you never knew how to channel that power right. You were always just a noisy kid." Dax said.

"I admire your balls, Dax, not so easy to say that when you're tied up and on your knees, but I think I'll let your ball-handling to Wes. Oh, wait, he's dead, isn't he?"

"How the hell could you just let him die like that, betray both of us like that?! We were a team, a family."

" _You_ and _Wes_ were a thing for sure, but me and Jared couldn't give a shit about what you call family."

"None of that matters now, because, right now, you are all just one order away from being dead, and then we all finally get paid and put your shitty little town behind us." Jared said.

"Speaking of which, what's taking Gravity so long to get back with us? First, he wants 'em dead, now, he doesn't. Any clues as to why?" Lars asked.

"Beats me." Mike said.

"He'll be back in soon enough. For now, we wait." Jared said.

Sure enough, after enough waiting, Alex Gravity entered the main area of the plane, joining the Rippers and their captured enemies. The Rippers, seeking more answers to clarify their confusion, came to Gravity to bring him their concerns.

"So, what's the deal? How come we're not killing these douchebags?" Lars asked.

"I'm getting to that. For now, why don't we all have a seat? I believe I'd like to have a little discussion with these young men and woman." Alex Gravity said.

Taking a chair with him, Alex Gravity sat across from the captured Otto and the group, preparing to make a civilized conversation with them. Lars, Mike, and Jared, seeking to find answers to Alex Gravity's strange change in plans, sat alongside him, awaiting to see what happened next.

"So, you kids really managed to build more hoverboards?" Alex Gravity asked.

"Well, it was really Squid that really did all the work. We just sorta... watched him build it and all." Twister said.

"Twist! What the hell are you telling this guy important stuff for?" Otto asked.

"Well, Squid's always been good with electronics and stuff. I mean, he built that cool battle robot back when we were kids, and-"

"TWISTER!" Reggie yelled.

"What?!"

"Well, now, good with electronics? Not many people I've encountered were able to work with this technology so easily. Tell me, how did you do it?" Alex Gravity asked.

"I don't know, Dax just told me what the parts were, all I did was make more of them and put them on other boards." Sam said.

"Those are some very complex parts to be just making out of scraps and toys. Even some of the best engineers I've worked with weren't able to do what the Rippers did, and only Jared here was able to pull it off."

"You're welcome." Jared added.

"But, you... You not only were able to recreate the board at least 5 times, but you also made several weapons and other nifty devices with that same anti-gravity technology. Do you realize how much talent that takes?" Alex Gravity asked.

"I don't know, I just see parts and put them together." Sam said.

"'Just see parts and put them together'. I like that."

"Look, are you gonna kill us, or what?"

"Squid! Why the hell are you in a hurry to have him kill us? Don't you think letting him talk is a better way to stay alive?" Otto asked.

"Not to fret, young Otto, I have no intentions of killing any of you. Well, I _did_ , until you let out a certain revelation that changed my mind." Alex Gravity said.

"Oh, yeah? And what was that revelation?" Sam asked.

"You said it yourself, you built these boards and these weapons. You know how to use the anti-gravity tech, just like we've been talking about."

"So what? Obviously, you've got Jared to work with that, what do you need us for?"

"I don't need all of you, just you, Sam."

"And why me? Because I can reverse-engineer things with some scrap? You could probably find dozens of people that can do that. You just said yourself that Jared can do it."

"Not quite. See, Jared here was the only one on the planet who managed to create the hoverboards, and it was only after numerous searching and giving him enough tools, parts, and tech that he could do it. You, on the other hand, who I found out of blind luck, managed to do it all by yourself."

"So, what, you want me to make you more hoverboards?"

"Exactly."

"And why exactly do you even care about having hoverboards, anyway? All you've been doing up until this point was all about turning Ocean Shores into your stupid skating theme park. What's your full game?"

"Well, if you remember from the announcement I made earlier today, I revealed that there was one more surprise in store for Gravity City. Something that will 'revolutionize skating as we know it', as I said."

"And what exactly is that something, Gravity?"

"Haven't you guessed? It's something that the Rippers have been using as their primary method of transportation, something that you and I have been discussing for the past 5 minutes now."

"Wait... the hoverboards? That's your way to revolutionize skating?"

"But of course. Ever since the late 80's, every kid on the block wanted to get their hands on a hoverboard. For a good part of my years as a young man, I was one of those people who wanted one. Now, after several hard years of research and development, I have finally obtained that dream, all to be exclusively used in Gravity City, unavailable anywhere else in the world. And I'm gonna be richer than rich."

"But aren't you already rich? You own a private jet, several theme parks, a health insurance company, and, now, a whole city. Why even bother with all this crap?" Reggie asked.

"Rich people get bored too."

"So, why not just skate or surf? Isn't that how your whole career got started?" Otto asked.

"It's not just about money or fun. There's also another big plus in it for me. For years, I was the biggest skateboarding star in the world, from the early days of the Zephyr team to the days of Tony Hawk. Now, being the biggest skateboarding star means just about as much to the average person as being the biggest fanfiction writer in the world; an accomplishment that no one cares about, despite how much passion you put into what you love. With this, I become the first man in history to do what no one has ever accomplished before: to be the first person who defied gravity, the very pull of the Earth itself. Then, everyone's going to care about skateboarding again, and I become just as famous now as I was in my prime, and I can finally go knowing that my name is forever immortal, cast in iron in a small city in Southern California."

"Well, I gotta hand it to you, Gravity, when we took this job originally, I didn't think you'd come up with such a convoluted and overcomplicated plan just to make the damn history books. No wonder you didn't tell us what your game is, we would've laughed at your ass the moment we heard it. You're nothing but a senile old bastard, you know that?" Dax asked.

"I'm not senile yet, Dax, and, since you're the only one in the group here that life isn't particularly valued among the others, I would strongly suggest you loosen up that attitude before something very bad happens to you."

"Well, this one happens to be valued more than you think, and I can tell you right now that I'm not going to be part of your cockamamie plan. I won't build you any hoverboards." Sam said.

"Oh, really? Then perhaps I should persuade you with the death of one of your friends? Perhaps the annoying one, the stupid one, or perhaps the girl you like so much?"

"Well, you're going to have to be a little more specific on the first two options, because they're both kind of annoying and stupid."

"SQUID!" Otto and Twister said.

"The girl it is, then. Lars, would you do the honors?" Alex Gravity asked.

Lars got up from his seat and changed his arm to its gun form, aiming it straight at Reggie's head.

"I really wanted to see what the chainsaw does to a human being, but I wanna have a little fun with you later, and I can't get off to a bloody, mutilated carcass. I'm no psycho." Lars said.

"Uh, Sammy, you wanna have him back down here?!" Reggie asked.

Despite the immediate danger that Reggie Rocket was in, Sam did not falter, having the situation well under his control.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Lars." Sam said.

"And why wouldn't you, Squid?" Lars asked.

"Because once the F.B.I. gets here, your chances of getting out of here alive might not be so easy with another dead body on your hands."

"And what exactly makes you think that the F.B.I. are going to get me? No federal agencies are onto me, and, even if they were, there's no evidence to back up your claims." Alex Gravity said.

"Don't be so sure, Gravity. Before Otto left the house to join up with you guys at the boardwalk, I slipped a recording device in his pocket, which, of course, he wasn't aware of. While he was talking to the Rippers, they made direct confessions that they were the ones behind all the terrorism going on in Ocean Shores, and having you reveal your plans just added to the support we needed."

"Oh, I see. And how exactly do you plan to send out this little piece of evidence?"

"I don't 'plan' to send out the evidence, Gravity. I did it an hour ago. I've been talking with you all this time to buy the troops some time."

Just as Alex Gravity realized the implication of Sam's words, a squadron of helicopters began to surround the plane, all calling for the plane to land over the radio.

" _Attention, Alex Gravity, this is the F.B.I.. You are under arrest. Land your plane immediately._ " One pilot called.

"What the hell have you done?!" Alex Gravity asked.

"We just won, dude." Otto said.


	19. Chapter 18: Mile High Club

**CHAPTER 18: MILE HIGH CLUB**

For a good long portion of his life, Alex Gravity had made elaborate plans to obtain the entirety of Ocean Shores to turn in into a giant skate park, along with introducing the ground-breaking new experience of skateboarding while defying gravity itself, placing him on the map in a way never before conceived by the skating community.

If he hadn't had the efforts of Otto, Twister, Sam, Reggie, and his recently-defecting Dax to stop him, perhaps he would've easily completed his goal, and maybe his lifelong goal of renewing interest in skating would be realized, alongside his wishes to become relevant in the world again, no longer coasting off the dwindling wealth he had.

He was smart enough to take down the young men and woman going after him, he was smart enough to take them far out of the country where they could have no effect on his plans, and he was even smart enough to keep at least one of them alive in order to further his production of hoverboards. For the plane ride to Rio de Janerio, all seemed like a nice, slow, easy ride.

However, the group was much smarter than Alex Gravity assumed, as they had already collected all the evidence they needed against him that they needed, and submitted it to the proper authorities. Now, a group of attack helicopters sent straight from the F.B.I. have surrounded Alex Gravity's personal jet, and, now, his plans have all come crashing down.

"Lars, kill all of them!" Alex Gravity said.

[Soundtrack Cue: Minor Threat - In My Eyes]

Not even bothering to question about Alex Gravity's need for hoverboards, Lars began to fire off a shot from his gun arm straight for Sam, all too eager to end another life. Unlike most of his prior victims, however, Sam was more than ready to put up a fight to save his own life, and the lives of his friends.

Standing up with the wooden chair he was sitting on still tied to his arms, Sam spun and smashed the chair against Lars' arm, both shattering the chair and freeing his arms as well as causing Lars to accidentally fire into the walls of the plane, nearly hitting a helicopter and beginning to release the air pressure in the plane.

The nearly-hit helicopter, believing that they were under attack, prepared to fire back on the plane.

" _Bogey has opened fire, prepare to return fire_." The pilot said.

The group of helicopters began firing at the plane, riddling the hull with bullets and causing the air pressure to release even faster. With the air pressure and oxygen losing fast, the fight between Sam and Lars began to expand to the rest of the group.

Otto, taking a similar approach as Sam's, rushed straight for Alex Gravity, headbutting into his stomach like a charging bull, the impact being greatened by his helmet.

Dax, going for a more practical solution, stood up from his chair and smashed it against the floor, freeing up his hands. With his hands now free, Dax decided to turn them onto Mike, aiming to punish him for his betrayal.

Reggie, being the slimmest of the group, managed to slip her hands through the ropes holding her, rushing straight for Jared, the last of the enemies.

[Soundtrack Cue Pause]

Twister, not able to slip his hands through the rope, tried to smash his chair against the ground, only to find that his chair was stronger than the others', not breaking against the ground and leaving him still subdued.

"Uh, guys, a little help here?" Twister asked.

[Soundtrack Cue Resume]

Stuck in a brawl with Sam, Lars changed his arm to its chainsaw form, taking numerous slashes at his opponent to try to hack a piece of his body off. Even with someone not quite as in shape as the others, Sam managed to avoid Lars' slashes, managing to land in several good punches to his stomach and face, his body weight adding in enough force to keep him down.

Otto, still battling Alex Gravity, had more than a challenge than expected trying to fight his opponent. While Otto held the advantages in youth and physical shape, Alex Gravity, despite being in his 50s, managed to put up enough of a fight against the agile and capable Otto. Where Otto threw several fast punches more than capable of doing considerate damage on Alex Gravity, the aging theme park owner proved himself to be more than capable of standing his ground.

"You'll have to try harder than that, Otto. I was one of the top skateboarders alongside the likes of Jay Adams and Steve Cabarello." Alex Gravity said.

"And you're in your 50s. You've probably got some deterioration in your joints by now." Otto said.

"Nothing some pills here and there can't fix. You know, I am sorry about your father. Ray Rocket was one of the biggest surfers of his time, back in the history of Ocean Shores. I would've loved to have met him in the flesh."

"He wouldn't given two shits about a sellout like yourself. Maybe you'll get the pleasure when my dad kicks your ass in the afterlife!"

Jumping on top of Alex Gravity, Otto began punching him repetitively in his head, aiming to finally end the fight. Alex Gravity, not so easily beaten by a younger man, threw Otto back off, heading towards him as his opponent fell to the ground.

Meanwhile, the fight between Mike and Dax continued on as well, with the loss of his best friend and parter urging Dax on to beat the person he believed to be one of his friends.

Using the newly-created Gravity Fists, Mike put his self-taught fighting skills to the test, throwing numerous punches to try to finish off Dax once and for all. With his well-trained fists combined with the power of the Gravity Fists, one punch would be more than enough to finish off any human being. Fortunately, Dax knew Mike's sloppy fighting style well-enough to avoid his blows. Despite being able to avoid the blows, the very motion of Mike's fists moving let out enough force in the air to be felt by everyone in the plane.

"You know, I always hated Wes. In fact, I didn't think either me or Jared gave a shit about that faggot. He was always way too whiny and sad." Mike taunted.

"That man was my best friend, and the closest thing I ever had to a partner in my life, Mike. He always loved all of us, even someone vulgar and annoying like you. He made us all a family." Dax said.

"Well, you know what they say, I guess two guys can't make a family. I guess he went straight to hell, and you'll be joining him soon enough."

As Mike threw a more punches towards his former team leader, Dax thought of a plan to stop Mike and avenge Wes. Taking the power of the Gravity Fists into mind as well as the limited power of the plane's hull, Dax thought of a plan to stop Mike, as well as making a sly comeback to his homophobic comments.

"You know, even though you can't fight worth a damn, I thought you'd at least come up with some more clever comments about my relationship with Wes than reciting some southern baptist bullshit. But then again, I guess the intellect matches." Dax joked.

Aiming to put an end to his former team leader and end the fight in his favor, Mike threw one last punch for Dax, putting all the power he could in his punch. Dax, timing his moves carefully, dodged his punch at just the right time for his plans, causing Mike to hit the side of the plane instead.

The resulting blast left a shock so powerful, it was seen from the outside, observed by the still-pursuing F.B.I. helicopters, never having seen anything like the explosion before.

" _Jesus Christ, what the hell was that?!_ " A pilot asked.

The power of the Gravity Fists proved themselves to be much more greater than any of the group could have imagined, the sheer impact of the Fists capturing the attention of the whole group, stopping their fights temporarily.

The impact created a giant hole in the side of the plane, causing some debris to hit one of the engines, sending the plane into a freefall. Mike, being the closest to the hole, was immediately sucked out of the plane, sent falling to the Earth at several miles per hour.

" _ **SCREW YOU, DAX, YOU TRICKY COCKSUCKER!**_ " Mike screamed.

Dax, holding onto a seat inside the plane, enjoyed the view of Mike falling towards the Earth, having punished the traitor to his team.

"Happy landings, Mike." Dax said.

[Soundtrack Cue End]

* * *

In the small, sunny city of Cancún, sitting on the edge of the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, events play through peacefully, in whatever way 'peaceful' can apply to such a popular tourist city.

The beaches, ranked among some of the most beautiful and clean in the world, held several American spring breakers, aiming to party hard to relieve the stress of the hard work from their college semesters.

Two of these carefree people are a young man named Brad, and a young woman named Bridget, a young couple working out the kinks in their relationship.

"You know, I haven't forgotten about the time you slept with my best friend." Bridget said.

"Oh, come on, babe, it was just a fling, we were both drunk, what do you want me to say?" Brad asked.

"Don't say anything."

"Oh, really? Okay."

"What?! That's not what I meant!"

"What? Well, what did you mean?"

"I want you to do something for me to make up for it."

"Like what? You want me to buy you something?"

"I don't want you to buy me something, I want you to do something for me that couples are supposed to do!"

"Well, what do couples do?"

"You know, take me places, kiss me, pick me up, all that stuff."

"But I took you out to the beach and you basically shoved me off when I tried to kiss you. Do you want me to just pick you up, then?"

"Ugh! Forget it, buster, we're through."

"What? We're through? But, I'm, like, the head of my fraternity, and you're, like, the head of your sorority. We're like, royalty made for each other."

"Or so I thought. I'm going to find someone new. Somebody with big arms, tight abs, a full head of hair, and a foot-long dick!"

"Oh, yeah? What do you think, someone like that's gonna fall from the sky?"

Just as Brad finished his sentence, a loud crash was heard as an object fell from the sky, colliding with a beach chair. As the sight and sound brought the two to a startle, the settled dust and sand gave an even more frightening sight, one much more gruesome than either of them expected to see.

Fallen from the sky was a human body, once belonging to the member of the Rippers known as Mike. Colliding with the ground from such a height with the hard ground, his body broke far beyond recognition: His arms and legs split in numerous different contortions, several bones like his ribs and collarbones protruded from his front, and his head was hanging from his neck by mere threads, only a few pieces of muscles and blood vessels keeping it from falling off.

Bridget, not able to take the sight of such a mutilated and malformed body, immediately rushed into the arms of Brad, seeking shelter from the horrors of the dead body.

"Oh, baby, help me! I can't take it!" Bridget yelled.

Despite his former girlfriend breaking up with him not a few seconds ago, having Bridget's large breasts pressed up against him quickly swept aside his concerns, his mind reverting to his more primitive instincts.

"Don't worry, babe, how about we go back to the hotel and forget about it there?" Brad asked.

"Yeah, sure, that sounds nice." Bridget said.

* * *

Back on the plane, the remaining members of the plane struggled for survival, holding onto the seats of the plane and whatever else they could use to anchor themselves with. In between the vacuum of the hole in the plane and the lack of gravity from the plane's freefall, survival was no easy task in this environment.

Lars, still determined to finish off the Rocket team, changed his arm to its gun form, trying to fire at the remaining enemies, only to miss from the intense freefall throwing off his aim.

"Come on, you white trash punks, die already!" Lars shouted.

"You're gonna have to aim better for that to happen, Lars!" Otto shouted.

"You try aiming a gun built into your arm at freefall, Carrot Topp!"

"Carrot Top's orange haired, not orange skinned, moron. Get your insults right."

"I meant the carrot dude from Radioactive Chicken Heads, not that annoying idiot with the shitty comedy routine!"

As the articulating insults continued to be thrown between Otto and Lars, the banter quickly came to a stop as all members of the plane began to have severe nosebleeds, the released blood floating in the air from the freefall.

"Guys! We're losing air pressure! We need to get to the ground fast, or we're gonna start having some really bad headaches, then be dead!" Sam shouted.

"How, Sam?! We're freefalling in a plane!" Reggie shouted.

Looking out one of the windows, Twister took notice of a large mountain sitting near the ocean, getting an idea on how to survive the affair.

"There's a mountain below us. Can we slide down it to safety, like a giant playground slide?" Twister asked.

"Twister, are you insane?! We'd all hit the mountain and be dead, you idiot!" Reggie shouted.

"Wait! What about the hoverboards? What if we skate down the mountain?" Otto asked.

"That'd have to be one hell of a right angle to hit, you think we could pull that off?" Sam asked.

"Look who you're talking to, man."

"Otto, we are going to die! Now is not the goddamn time for your ego!"

"I'm just saying, dude, it's the best option we got. You have a better idea?"

As the team figured out their plans for survival, Alex Gravity, Lars, and Jared listened in, deciding to risk the idea for themselves. Just when they began to head for the hoverboards themselves, however, Otto and Sam took notice of them taking advantage of the plan, realizing the urgency of the situation.

"Actually, yeah, how about we get to the boards and try your plan before they do?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I like that idea." Otto said.

The Rocket team, flying over to the Rippers to stop them from getting to the boards, grabbed at the 3 remained enemies; Sam grabbing Alex Gravity, Reggie grabbing Jared, and Otto grabbing Lars. Dax and Twister, wasting no time to reach the hoverboards, immediately ran to the cases holding them, taking the contents out immediately.

Along with grabbing his hoverboard, Twister immediately turned on the camera on his helmet, starting a new video.

"Hey, everybody on NewTube, Twister with Team Rocket Sports here, and, after getting stuck in a plane freefalling from the sky, we're about to jump out and skate to the ground using super-advanced hoverboards! Be sure to like, favorite, and subscribe for more rad skating tricks!" Twister said.

"Are you serious?! You're starting a damn video?!" Dax asked.

"Hey, man, this is a once-in-a-lifetime shot I'm about to make. I'm not about to lose it to the bad guys."

As Otto kept holding onto Lars to prevent him from getting to the hoverboards, Lars began to taunt Otto, trying to enrage him enough to let him go.

"You know, killing all those people was the best fun I've had in years. Especially your dad." Lars said.

"Shut up." Otto said.

"'Shut up'? 'Shut up'?! Thousands of insults you can throw at me, and the best you could come up with is 'shut up'?! That's exactly what your dad said to me when I was beating his sun-bleached ass. Guess you're just as pathetic as he is."

"Shut up!"

"You know, my only real regret is that I didn't get to see your dad burn to death like the little bitch he was. I always hated your dad, and seeing him dead like a little pussy would've been a goddamn art masterpiece to hang in my house for the rest of my life!"

Unable to stand Lars' taunts about his father any farther, Otto released Lars, getting ready to lay in an unrestrained attack on him.

" _ **SHUT THE FUCK UP!**_ " Otto shouted.

While Lars was counting on Otto to release him to get to the hoverboards for himself, he was not accounting for Otto's unrestrained rage being unleashed right on him.

Otto, wanting nothing more in that moment in time to kill Lars, shoved him against the wall of the plane, landing in several damaging punches right to his face. With each punch making its landing, several teeth began to knock out of Lars' mouth, along with much blood with it. Barely able to comprehend the immense pain from Otto's attack Lars just barely managed to land in a counter-attack to his enemy.

Following landing a surprise punch to his face, Lars kicked Otto off, knocking him against the adjacent wall of the plane. After landing in several heavy punches with his metal arm, Lars changed his arm to its flamethrower mode, preparing to burn Otto alive.

"If I wasn't able to see your dad's burnt corpse, then I'll be able to see yours. Any last words, Rocket Dork?" Lars asked.

"Nothing much, I just hope you can enjoy that victory with only one eye, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" Otto shouted.

Driving his thumb into Lars' left eye socket, Otto gouged out Lars' eyeball, destroying his eye and permanently rendering him blind on his left side. Lars, unable to withstand the immense pain of the loss of his eye, covered his empty eye socket, screaming in intense pain.

"Otto! Stop wasting time! We've got the boards!" Dax shouted.

Dax, rushing back up from the front with the hoverboards, passed Otto his board, with Twister following him from behind.

"You go on ahead, I'll catch up." Otto said.

"Wait, what? What the hell are you staying behind for?!" Dax asked.

"I'll cover you guys. I'll catch up."

"Okay, fine, just hurry up!"

Dax, taking his board, jumped out of the plane's hole, freefalling to the ground. Twister prepared to follow him, ensuring his camera was ready first.

"See you on the ground, Otto! I've got the camera rolling!" Twister said.

Twister followed Dax out of the hole, freefalling to the ground with the hoverboard at his feet as well.

Otto, freeing up Sam and Reggie from holding Alex Gravity and Jared, punched both of their captures in their faces, rendering the two helpless momentarily.

"Grab the boards and go! I'll catch up!" Otto shouted.

"We got it, see you on the ground, Rocket Boy!" Reggie said.

"Let's hope to god that your plan works!" Sam said.

Taking their hoverboards in hand, Reggie and Sam both jumped out of the hole, freefalling to the ground as well.

Now having freed the rest of the group, Otto prepared to take his hoverboard and jump out with the group, landing safely and soundly on the ground. Before he could jump out, however, a pair of hands grabbed him and threw him to the front of the plane again. Upon getting back up from the ground, Otto saw that the individual who stopped him was Jared, still in the fight.

"I don't think so, Otto. You're gonna hand me that board, and you're gonna hand it over peacefully so I can get the hell out of this plane." Jared said.

"Not gonna happen, dickweed!" Otto said.

Otto and Jared put up a fistfight, blocking as well as landing several punches at each other, neither fully able to reach the last hoverboard just yet. Otto, after pushing Jared down on the floor, ran to the hoverboard and tried to reach it, only for Jared to grab his legs and pull him away, further delaying his escape.

Otto, still determined to get the board, began to crawl towards the hoverboard cases, only to be slowed down as Jared climbed on top of him, still not ready to end the fight.

Just as Otto reached inside the case for a hoverboard, Otto only managed to pull out the remains of the broken hoverboard, the board not in condition for use. Jared, having finally caught Otto at a stopping point, flipped him over and punched him several times in his face, nearly making Otto lose all consciousness.

"You know, it's a real shame, man. You would've been an awesome Ripper if you didn't get mushy on us. But, then again, it's really not to late. How about you and I call it even, we all get out of here, and we party somewhere in the Virgin Islands, maybe make those islands no longer virgins, huh?" Jared asked.

As Otto looked to the broken hoverboard, he took notice of one final component still remaining, something that would save him in this seemingly hopeless situation. Taking the nuclear core from the board, nearly causing the core to react simply from removing it, Otto shoved the core in Jared's mouth, much to his surprise and confusion.

"No, thanks, man. Unlike you, I value my friends a whole lot more than stupid shit!" Otto yelled.

Landing one final punch to Jared's chin, Otto caused Jared to chomp down on the nuclear core, further damaging it and beginning its detonation.

With the immense radiation beginning to dissolve Jared's mouth, Otto grabbed the final hoverboard and jumped out of the hole, saving himself and leaving the remaining crew for dead.

As the radiation levels of the core began to rise and rise, Jared's mouth and head began to decay at an extremely fast rate, the flesh from his face beginning to fall off and his muscles following. With the radiation beginning to tear his body apart at the seams, simultaneously cooking him alive, Jared let out one last, agonized scream as his life began to come to an end.

When the core finally could no longer remain stable any longer, the core created a massive explosion, completely vaporizing Jared's body and destroying the plane.

While still freefalling from the sky, Otto looked back on the exploding plane, enjoying the view of the threat of the Rippers finally at an end.

Quickening his descent, Otto managed to catch up with Twister, Reggie, Sam, and Dax, meeting the 4 in a circle.

"That's it! We did it! We won!" Otto shouted.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Sam shouted.

"Alright!" Twister shouted.

"Guys, I hate to break up the celebration, but we've still got a mountain to skate down. Any tips to make this happen?" Reggie asked.

"Yeah, I'm with the girl. How do we pull this off?" Dax asked.

"Well, Dax, these things can defy gravity, right?" Otto asked.

"Yeah."

"So, then, all we gotta do is just let the anti-gravity stuff work with the mountain, and it should break our fall, right?"

"Theoretically, yeah, but I've never tried it from a height like this."

"So let's try it right now, what are we even discussing this now for?" Twister asked.

"He's right, the only thing we can do now is to try it for ourselves and see what happens. That's the only option we have for survival." Sam said.

"Cool, then let's get-" Otto began to say.

Before Otto could finish his sentence, a speeding object came flying straight for him, knocking him out of the circle and sending him spinning around at high speeds. As his spinning began to come to an end, he came into sight with the entity that caused his disorientation: Lars Rodriguez, still not dead, and now more rabid from the loss of his eye.

"I'm still alive, asshole!" Lars shouted.

"Not for long, you ugly psycho!" Otto shouted.

[Soundtrack Cue: Infectious Grooves - Punk It Up; Starting from 0:42]

Immediately returning the favor from his lost eye, Lars began to strangle Otto and continue punching him in the face, trying whatever he could to end his life quickly. Otto, not ready to lose to the man who killed his father, fought back against the psychotic Lars with all he had, landing several punches to his face.

Wanting to focus more on the fight at hand, Otto released his grip on the board, allowing it to fly just above their heads.

"Tell you what, whoever wins gets the board. Whoever loses hits the ground and dies." Otto said.

"Fine with me, but you'll be the one who ends up a street pizza, Rocket Dork!" Lars said.

The two continued their mutual onslaught, both continuing to land several punches and kicks into each other in mid-air. With the two stuck in a freefall to the ground, punching and kicking were not easy tasks, but the they were more than willing to put the necessary force behind their movements to end each other once and for all.

The remaining group, taking notice of the fight, spectated the viciousness of the two, all hoping that Otto would outwit and win against Lars. Twister, taking his YoPro in hand, carefully aimed his camera at the fight, ensuring to capture each moment, every frame of the events occurring before his eyes.

"Dude, seriously?" Sam asked.

"What? Don't you wanna be able to see Lars get beat up as many times as you want?" Twister asked.

Sam paused in his speech to think for a moment, contemplating Twister's idea.

"...Keep recording." Sam said.

As Twister continued to record the fight between Otto and Lars, the two brawlers showed no signs of backing down from each other, their tense brawl nearly drawing to a finish.

Upon looking towards the ground, both Otto and Lars took notice that the two were nearing the ground, the two needing to hasten their fight to its end.

Otto landed one last punch to Lars' face, taking away his attention long enough to make a fly for the board. Lars, not so easily stopped and ready to die, prepared to take the board for himself.

Changing his arm to its hookshot form, Lars fired a grappling hook straight into Otto's shoulder, beginning to reel in the line, sending him straight back towards Otto to continue the fight.

Lars, having his opponent temporarily stunned, grabbed Otto from behind and held him tightly, aiming to end both of them with their fall to the ground. With the immense pain of the hookshot embedded in his shoulder, Otto found himself quickly held up by Lars, not able to fight back or move.

"Well, Rocket, looks like you _and_ I are both gonna die now. Actually, considering my lucky streak, I may just survive this anyway. When I do, I'm gonna kill your stupid friends piece by piece, and I'm gonna make your sister and your stepmom my goddamn sex slaves! What do you think about that?!" Lars asked.

Taking a Gravity Puck from his pocket, Otto prepared to finish off Lars once and for all.

"You already killed my dad, Lars, there is no way in hell you're gonna touch another one of my family members, or any of my friends!" Otto yelled.

Grabbing onto Lars' robotic arm as tightly as he could, Otto activated his Gravity Puck, causing it to fire. The Gravity Puck, packing immense power, blasted the two several feet apart in the air, with Otto ripping off Lars' robotic arm in the process.

As the blast blew the two apart, Otto grabbed onto his board, preparing to make his way to the ground. Placing his board underneath his feet, Otto finally met with the rest of his team, seconds away from reaching the mountain.

Finally, after a long descent in the air, the 5 reached the mountain, hoping their plan would work. To their surprise, with the angle of their descent aimed just right combined with the anti-gravity technology of their boards, their gamble worked, and the group began to skate down the mountain.

However, the former was only the easy part of their gamble. The hard part was being able to safely ride to the bottom of the mountain without getting killed via collision in the process. With the numerous amount of trees on the side of the mountain, avoiding the numerous obstacles was a difficult task, especially when having built up enough speed from falling from the sky.

Fortunately, with enough correct timing and reflexes, the group safely cleared the mountain, reaching the ground at last. What challenge laid next, however, was not crashing into the ocean, the beach being just ahead of them.

That challenge, though, was not quite as much as a challenge to be believed, as the group was able to safely stop their boards, the hoverboards being designed to handle high speeds. Sam, however, not the most agile of the group, fell off his board trying to stop, leaving himself covered with sand.

[Soundtrack Cue End]

As Sam got up from the ground, the rest of the group began to laugh at him, joking over his deteriorating skating skills.

"Oh, ha-ha, very funny, you guys. You know, I haven't had much practice in a while on a regular board, let alone a hoverboard." Sam said.

"Call it whatever you want, you're still the Squid after all these years, Squid." Otto said.

" _Hey, dorks! Guess what?!_ " A voice called.

The group of 5 all turned to see the origin of the voice, seeing that, in the distance, Lars was yet still alive, albeit stuck out to sea.

"Are you kidding me?! How is he still not dead?!" Reggie asked.

"You'd better start running, _putos_ , because I don't need my robot arm to kick your asses! I'm gonna make all of you my own personal bitches!" Lars called.

As Lars continued his arrogant and foolish threats, the blood from nose, ears, and armless stump began to seep into the water, attracting the attention of several hungry sea creatures.

"I'm gonna make my little bro Twister be my cleaning maid, Dax be my human toilet paper, Sam my neutered pet dog, and Reggie my own personal sex doll! You, Otto, I've got the worst plans for you!" Lars called.

While the group began to hear Lars continue his outlandish threats, the 5 took notice of several fins beginning to surround him, all while Lars himself had no idea about the coming danger. Rather than speak up, the group decided to stay quiet and enjoy the show.

"I'm gonna chop your arms and legs off, pull out your teeth, lobotomize you, scalp you, and assrape you with an 18 inch machete until you shit out your own intestines, then make you eat your own excreted intestines again, and keep eating them until _YOU FINALLY DROP DEAD!_ _ **A-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!**_ " Lars laughed.

Finally, as Lars began to notice the fins surrounding him, causing his maniacal laughter to slow to a grinding halt. Upon realizing the imminent death coming to him, Lars' expression of sadistic joy instantly turned into a look of despair.

" _Oh, shit_." Lars said.

A force pulled Lars under the water, causing him to let out one last gurgling scream as he descended. Within a matter of seconds, the numerous bubbles that were coming from the spot he was in ceased to rise, with blood beginning to show in its place.

The Rocket Team, slightly disturbed by the sight, averted their eyes to avoid the carnage, even if the only carnage they could see was in their minds.

"I hope you don't have anything against that?" Otto asked.

"Not at all, dude, he killed your dad. He was no brother of mine." Twister said.

As the group all took a moment to collect on the large events that occurred for them all, the 5 all came to a collective realization.

"Dude, I just realized something." Otto said.

"Oh, yeah? What?" Sam asked.

"We just won. We beat the bad guys. We killed all the guys that killed Raymundo. We saved Ocean Shores! We did it!"

With Otto sharing the revelation of the news of their victory, the group all cheered together, all proud to have accomplished their mission.

"Yeah, dude! That's what I'm talking about!" Twister shouted.

"That was wicked!" Otto said.

"No, dude, it was gnarly!"

"It was righteous!"

"It was sick!" Sam said.

As Otto nor Twister were aware of 'sick' being used as a term for 'cool', the two looked to Sam in confusion at his choice of words.

"'Sick'? Like, it had a cold?" Twister asked.

"Yeah, Squid, not exactly a cool word." Otto said.

"What? Oh, come on, guys, 'sick' means cool now, don't you use the internet? I told you that'd work." Sam said.

Otto and Twister were still not convinced of the word, leading Sam to choose another adjective.

"Okay, well, it was... uh... It was excellent!" Sam said.

"Yeah, dude, you're damn right it was!" Otto said.

"Hell, yeah, dude!" Twister said.

As the three let out another cheer, Reggie quickly grabbed Sam and gave him a passionate kiss, surprising Sam as well as the remainder of the group.

"Whoa, dude. Get a room, would you?" Otto said.

" _Now_ who's going homo?" Twister asked.

"Dude, that's my sister! I don't wanna see that!"

"And now you know how I felt the other day."

"Oh, come on, you're not going to give me another stupid 'protective brother' crap again, aren't you?" Reggie asked.

"Actually, uh, no. But I do wanna tell you guys something. I was kind of acting against you guys because, well... I just kind of wanted things to be like back in the old days. You know, when all of us were just friends and stuff. I hate when things change. I was all aggressive not because you're my sister- Well, it kind of is, but, I just thought it would seem weird seeing Sam in a different way." Otto said.

"So... where exactly are you going with this, Otto?" Sam asked.

"Well... I'm trying to say... I guess... If you wanna do it with my sister, I'm cool with that. Just not in front of me. Wait, no, I mean... I'll handle the kids for babysitting if you need me. No, damn it, I mean... Am I getting through to you guys at all?"

"Are you trying to say that you... approve of us?"

"Uh... yes?"

"Well, Rocket Boy, you never were good with handling anything romantic, but I guess that was close enough. Thank you." Reggie said.

"Right, yeah. I think, this time, I'll try to stay out of the dating game for a while. Just focus on me a little more."

"Otto, that's _all_ you ever focus on."

"Well, I mean, like... where I fit into the world and stuff. You know, like Ray would've wanted."

"Not if I can help it, you won't." A voice said.

With a new voice entering the area, the group all turned to the source of the voice to see who it belonged to. As they all faced the source of the voice, the group were all met with yet another survivor of the plane explosion:

Alex Gravity, still standing tall.

"What the hell?! How did _you_ survive?!" Twister asked.

"You thought you were the only ones to think about using those boards? I'm a pro skater, need I remind you?" Alex Gravity asked.

" _Former_ pro skater." Otto corrected.

"Like it matters."

"What do you want now? The F.B.I. knows your deal, we destroyed your plane, and killed all your cronies. You're finished."

"Oh, no, Otto. Right now, we're just getting started."


	20. Chapter 19: Endings and Beginnings

**CHAPTER 19: ENDINGS AND BEGINNINGS**

For the past few days, a massive conspiracy took place to take over Ocean Shores and turn it into a massive amusement park dedicated entirely to the sport of skating was discovered, and the man behind this enormous conspiracy was revealed to be none other than Alex Gravity, the owner of the entire franchise of the last major skate park chain known as Zero Gravity Zone.

After attempting to escape the law by fleeing to Brazil, taking the only witnesses with him to secure his own safety. Unfortunately, his captures had other plans; having contacted the F.B.I. with enough evidence to stop him and his nefarious scheme to destroy Ocean Shores.

Now, with his cronies dead and his plane destroyed, the nearly-defeated Alex Gravity stands on a beach somewhere in Mexico, confronting one of the young people who brought his plans to a crashing end: Otto Rocket.

"What's there to get started on, Gravity? We beat you." Otto said.

"Do you have any ungodly amount of time and money I've put into this entire plan? Millions of dollars I've spent buying off the buildings and businesses, the insurance company panels I had to pay off, the newspapers I bought out, investment I put in the Rippers; you destroyed all of that!" Alex Gravity said.

"You're damn right I did. Ocean Shores is our city, and I won't let you wreck it all for your own stupid ideas."

"Who are you to declare yourself the guardian of Ocean Shores? You helped me bring the last remnants of the city into my hands, and you were more than willing to do it for just money."

"Not just money, though in hindsight that was stupid enough. I thought the Rippers were giving me something I thought I didn't have: a place where I really belonged, some people who accepted me for who I was. What I was too stupid to realize was that I had that right here the whole time. Now that I realize my own screw-ups, I'm not gonna repeat my mistakes."

"Oh, look at you, this mighty, high-riding, self-declared guardian of Ocean Shores. You're even more pathetic than I thought. Dax told me you were just a skater punk, but I didn't think you'd be this pathetic. All you've ever done with your life is sit around your house and smoke pot, and the few times you set out in the world, you spend skating and surfing. You think you're some kind of hero?"

"I don't. You're right, I am a pathetic pothead. But I know one thing: If it wasn't for you, my dad would be alive, and I'm not going to let us end on such a bad note like we did."

"Oh, so you think you can kick my ass and say that you saved the world? Well, Otto, need I remind you, I'm still in peak physical condition for my age, and, being an older man, I hold the advantages in weight and size. I'm eager to see you try."

"Don't worry, dude, we got your back." Twister said.

"Yeah. Let's all get him." Reggie said.

"No, guys, he's all mine." Otto asked.

"What? Otto, what are you doing?" Sam asked.

"The fact that Raymundo is dead, the fact that this dickhead almost won is all my fault. Let me beat him on my own. I wanna pay everything I owe back."

"Seriously, Rocket Boy? Is this some kind of macho thing-" Reggie began to ask.

"Reggie, it's not for me. It's for dad. Let me do it for him. Please."

"'Please' what? Let you fight this guy all by yourself for no reason at all?"

"Please let me avenge dad."

"Otto, dad's not here anymore, this won't-"

"I know that, just please let me do this."

Reggie thought over Otto's offer for a moment, not sure whether to allow her brother to fight on his own, or disregard his wishes and help him defeat Alex Gravity. However, remembering Otto's sincere regret for his betrayal and the loss of their father driving him for good again, Reggie decided to allow him to fight on his own.

"Everybody back up. Give them some room." Reggie said.

"What?!" Twister asked.

"Are you serious?!" Sam asked.

"What are you doing?! We could all beat this guy right now-" Dax tried to say.

"Just do it. He needs this. Let them fight." Reggie said.

As Reggie gave the group her reassurances, the four all backed up from Otto and Gravity, giving the two a sufficient fighting space.

With the fighting ring set, Otto and Alex Gravity prepared themselves for a fistfight between each other; Alex Gravity unbuttoning his shirt and stretching his limbs, and Otto removing his T-shirt and giving his own stretches as well.

When the two combatants were ready for their final fight, both fighters took their own stances, preparing to end the affair once and for all.

"Otto, ready to die?" Alex Gravity asked.

"I was born to ride or die, bitch." Otto said.

[Soundtrack Cue: (hed) p.e. - Renegade]

With the stage set and the fighters ready, Otto rushed straight for his opponent with a kick aimed straight for Gravity's head, hoping to land in a finishing attack right away to end him as fast as possible.

Alex Gravity, despite his age, was not lacking in the department of speed. With his fists up in a traditional boxing stance, Gravity blocked Otto's kick, grabbing hold of his leg and pulling his opponent towards him. With Otto now closer to deliver heavier attacks, Gravity began throwing heavy punches right to his face, nearly putting him out right away.

Having landed numerous heavy punches straight to Otto's face, Gravity spun him around, leaving him to fall on the ground face-first. Otto, not so easily defeated, got right back up again to throw his counterattack.

Getting up from the ground, Otto immediately headbutted into Gravity's stomach, throwing him straight to the ground. Now turning the tables on his opponent, Otto climbed on top of Gravity, beginning to throw several punches of his own in, knocking a few of his teeth out.

Gravity, having more fight in his body than he appeared, grabbed onto Otto and tumbled on the ground, placing himself on top once again. Having Otto in his clutches, Gravity took one of Otto's thumbs and twisted it backwards, making a loud cracking sound and causing Otto immense pain, illiciting a yelp from him.

Angered and fueled by the pain of his broken thumb, Otto tumbled Gravity on his back again, ready to retaliate. With Gravity on his back once again, Otto started landing several kicks to his face and chest, nearly cracking some of his ribs. After landing those brutal kicks, Otto got up from the ground and delievered a falling elbow to Gravity's stomach, nearly causing him to throw up on the spot.

Taking his moment to adjust his thumb back in place, Otto watched as Alex Gravity slowly got his way back up from the ground, still not ready to accept his defeat.

"You know, you fight better than I thought for an old man." Otto said.

"And you're not so bad for being a punk. Most kids like you'd be down by now. You're tougher than I thought." Alex Gravity said.

"I may go down a lot, but I always get back up."

Ready once again to continue the fight, Otto and Gravity rushed to each other, turning their fight to a traditional boxing match. Gravity threw numerous punches to try to down Otto, using his size to his advantage, but Otto, being the younger and lightweight fighter, dodged his blows, getting ready to land his own.

Continuing the work he had laid from his kicks to his ribs, Otto pushed Gravity's arms to the air, beginning to lay several more punches to his ribs, audibly cracking the bones and causing them to protrude into his vital organs, causing him to gasp and cough from the pain.

Gravity, still too stubborn to die, landed a kick to Otto's chest, knocking him back. After taking a moment to breathe, Gravity began to approach Otto once again to fight, preparing to finish off his opponent as he laid on the ground.

Otto, agile as he was, got himself up from the ground with a kip-up, immediately preparing himself to attack Gravity once again. Aiming for a concussive attack, Otto began to throw punches to Gravity's head, trying to deliver him a concussion.

Gravity, still using his boxing skills to their best, kept his arms in a defensive stance, blocking Otto's punches and rendering them useless. With his opponent wasting his energy on the preceding hits, Gravity began to take a lunge for Otto, hoping to pin him to the ground.

Otto, moving to avoid his grapple, skipped around Gravity's attack, ending up behind him. Before Gravity could turn around to face Otto and deliver his next attack, Otto delivered a spinning roundhouse kick, spinning himself to face Alex Gravity and simultaneously hitting his kneecap, kicking it sideways and shattering it.

[Soundtrack Cue End]

As he felt the immense and unbearable pain of his kneecap shattering, Alex Gravity fell to his knees, unable to move any more. Otto, getting back up off the ground, looked down on Gravity, showing himself to be the victor in the fight.

"That's it for you, Gravity. You're finished." Otto said.

Alex Gravity, defiant to the very end, coughed up a splotch of blood, chuckling at his opponents' brash words.

"You really think that one illiterate moron who does nothing but sit around and smoke pot is really going to make a difference in the long run, Otto?" Alex Gravity asked.

"Seems to be working so far."

"So far, maybe. But think about this. We live in an age where superheroes walk among us, modern-day messiahs. What makes you think any of them are going to care if you took down a businessman in a ghost town in the middle of southern California when there are men who can destroy whole crime syndicates all by themselves? You'll be nothing but a side-story on the morning news."

"It's not about being the biggest or the best in life, Gravity. It's about doing what you love with the people you love, for better or worse."

Ready to deliver his land attack to his enemy, Otto rushed straight towards Alex Gravity, sprinting as fast as he could. Jumping up into the air, Otto delivered a drop-kick straight to Alex Gravity's ribs, fully breaking them and driving them straight into his heart and lungs.

With the sharp dislocated bone penetrating his vital organs, Alex Gravity found himself no longer able to stand, falling on his back in sheer agony. After letting out one last, bloody cough, Alex Gravity went completely unconscious, no longer able to withstand the immense pain inflicted upon him.

Otto, having finally won the fight with the man who threatened his hometown, sat back in relief, finally having accomplished his goal. However, even with Alex Gravity defeated, there was still one last unsettled bit of business.

"You know, Dax, the Feds are gonna be here any second. Even though you helped us, I doubt they'd let you off easy. You'd better get out of here while you still can." Otto said.

Dax, not expecting Otto to let him go so easily, gave a surprised look upon hearing Otto give his approval.

"You... You want to let me go? After everything I've done? Helping nearly destroy Ocean Shores, caused your dad to die, all kinds of horrible things I've done with my life?" Dax asked.

"I've had a second chance to fix my mistakes, and it cost me the life of my father to get that. You deserve that just as much as I do, especially with how many areas you helped me in my life." Otto said.

Surprised to receive this blessing from Otto, Dax extended his most sincere thanks to his newfound friend before leaving.

"You know, I have to admit, I thought you guys were all dumb as shit, and you kind of are, but you guys are pretty cool. Thank you." Dax said.

"Thanks, I think." Otto said.

"But you guys did help me avenge Wes. Thank you for that."

"And you helped us avenge Ray. You can ride with us anytime."

"Uh, Otto, aren't you forgetting that this guy also robbed and destroyed a whole bunch of small towns and stuff? So, didn't he, like, serve his purpose?" Twister asked.

"Twist! Knock it off, will ya?"

"Well, you're right about one thing. I did do a lot of stupid shit in my life. Maybe this time around, I'll do something right for once. For Wes. And for all of you." Dax said.

"Will we ever see you again?" Sam asked.

"Maybe, maybe not. For now, I'd better go before the authorties do arrive."

Before leaving to escape the law, Dax extended his hand to Otto, prompting him for a handshake. Otto, meeting with the request, grabbed his hand and shook it firmly, bidding his farewell to his newfound ally.

"Thanks." Otto said.

"Thank you." Dax said.

After bidding his final farewells, Dax took a hoverboard and began to ride out into the sea, heading for an unknown destination, seeking wherever place the wind blew him.

"You guys know we're going to be in serious trouble for letting him go, right?" Reggie asked.

"We could just tell them that he died in the plane explosion. They'd buy that." Otto said.

"Well, one thing's for sure, things are not going to be the same around here any more." Sam said.

"Tell me about it." Twister said.

As numerous American and Mexican federal agents began to move in on the beach, the situation finally began to come to a close as Alex Gravity was taken away for medical attention, and the Rocket Team taken away by the authorities for debriefing. From here on out, things were going to be a long, bumpy road before things settled back to normal.

* * *

THREE MONTHS LATER

[Soundtrack Cue: Jane's Addiction - Ocean Size]

Welcome to Ocean Shores.

Once upon a time, this was a simple ghost town, long since forgotten in the age of information taking over all forms of entertainment for the masses. Where this city was once a paradise for skaters, surfers, beachgoers, spring breakers, and more, it was long since forgotten in favor of more vapid and instantly gratifying pleasures like video games, social media, and internet television.

But that was then, this is now.

With the incredible story of the 4 young skaters that not only uncovered a mass conspiracy to develop the city into a massive theme park, but also single-handedly put a stop to it coming to national attention, it became an overnight sensation.

In the wake of the Hillwood Effect, Ocean Shores began to get caught up in the superhero craze, bringing attention to the heroes that saved their city from evil ulterior motives to undermine the values and purpose of the city. The fact that these young heroes decided to go public only made it more intriguing.

Most importantly, upon learning that the success to their victory laid not only in their teamwork, but also their extreme sports proficiency, extreme sports became the most popular pastime of the American youth once again.

Where the NewTube channel _Team Rocket Sports_ had only a dozen of subscribers and a few hundred views in total prior to the events of Ocean Shores, now, each and every new video reaches the #1 spot on trending for a month straight, beating out several game commentary channels and animation channels by a mile.

Where are these four heroes now? Two now simply seek relaxation on the beach, riding the waves of the ocean itself. Laying on their boards, awaiting the next big wave to ride, feeling the cool water of the ocean hitting their bodies, the salty taste of the water touching their faces, Otto and Twister prepare to ride the waves of the ocean, just as they have done in the days of their youth, and just as they will always do for a long time to come.

"Twister, you ready for this?!" Otto shouted.

"Always ready, Otto-man, always!" Twister shouted.

As the next large wave came to rise, reaching a size of 12 feet, Otto and Twister began balancing themselves on their boards, ready to ride the wave as they saw fit.

With the wave beginning to rise underneath their boards, Otto and Twister began riding the wave, moving at high speeds atop the water. On the wave, there is no tomorrow, there is no yesterday, there is only this moment in time, here and now, and they need only hold onto it with all they have.

The rush running through their heads, the salty seawater splashing on their bodies, the ocean breeze running over their faces, the ocean welcomes the riders as if they were its lovers. Otto and Twister, lifelong surfers living only for the moment, returned their love for the ocean, continuing their ride along the wave, lightly running their hands over the wave to keep their balance.

As the wave began to subside, the ocean returning back to its calm state, Otto and Twister's ride finally began to come to an end, their dance with the ocean coming to an end. Coming down from their natural high from the ocean, Otto and Twister began to ride back down to the calm ocean level again, returning back to reality.

[Soundtrack Cue End]

"Dude, I think that was the biggest one we've ridden all day, man." Twister said.

"Yeah, the waves've been getting better and better all day." Otto said.

As Otto and Twister took a moment to relax from surfing to rest on the water, the two took notice of several fans laying out on the beach, all calling for the attention of the two. In the midst of the crowd, numerous signs were explicitly made out to Otto and Twister themselves, each having their particular fans.

Among some of the signs read: 'OCEAN SHORES LOVES OTTO ROCKET', 'TWISTER, YOU'RE A CUTIE!', 'OTTO'S THE MAN', 'MARRY ME, TWISTER!', just to name a few. Looking back on the cheering fans, Otto and Twister began to laugh and reflect upon the fanbase that they had recieved.

"You know, how is it you get twice as many fangirls as I do? You're, like the most hideous dude I've ever seen, no offense." Otto said.

"No offense, dude. I guess girls just like me for my personality." Twister said.

"Your personality? Dude, you're dumber than a bag of rocks. How do chicks go for that?"

"I don't know, dude. I guess chick like dumb guys. At least you got plenty of dudes as fans."

"What?! Dude, I'm not gay!"

"Well, I don't know, man, you _were_ spending a lot of time with Dax."

Otto splashed some seawater in Twister's face, playfully bantering him for his joke. Twister, laughing off the playful splash, began splashing water back at Otto, the two best friends continuing their friendly banter.

After a moment of playfulness, though, the two began to reflect on the prior events that had changed their lives and Ocean Shores forever. In the three months that passed, Ocean Shores returned back to its days of its prime, but Dax Jett was never to be seen again since they had let him flee from the law.

"You know, I wonder what happened to Dax anyway." Otto said.

"Me too. I mean, he _was_ kind of the bad guy, but he changed and helped fix it all, and Ocean Shores went back to normal again." Twister said.

"And after all that, we couldn't keep those sweet hoverboards. The damn F.B.I. took 'em all."

"Well, dude, all that tech stuff didn't really belong to us. It belonged to somebody else. It was probably the right thing that we gave it back."

"Yeah, sure, dude. Whatever you say."

* * *

Meanwhile, at the now-rebuilt Shore Shack, a line of dozens of customers all lined up on the famous Ocean Shores boardwalk, all awaiting a taste of the now world-famous Big Kahuna Burgers of the Shore Shack. At the register, working as fast as they could, both Sam and Noelani both run up several orders, trying to move with the flow of customers.

"Okay, I've got 2 Big Kahuna Burgers cooked medium-well, 2 large fries, and 2 Yahoo Sodas for Order #43, a Tsunami Fish Sandwich, hold the tomato, with a small fry and an Arnold Palmer for Order #62, and a Coco-nuts Chicken Sandwich with a small fry and an orange soda for Order #57. Who's next in line?" Sam asked.

"Jeez, Sam, I can't believe how good you are with orders. I can barely keep up with all these people." Noelani said.

"I built gravity-defying hoverboards out of a pile of broken tech, household objects, and old sports equipment. This is nothing."

In the kitchen, Reggie and Tito were having their own difficulties keeping up with the numerous amounts of orders coming through; Tito having to work faster and faster to meet with the quick and numerous demands, as well as having to also help Reggie with having to handle the food.

Case in point; while trying to dump a basket of fries into a fry cup for the next customer, Reggie accidentally dropped several fries on the floor doing so, trying to work as gingerly as she could while still maintaining speed.

"Reggie, cuz, you okay there?" Tito asked.

"I'm trying to be careful with these fries, I don't want to get splashed with fry grease!" Reggie said.

"You do know we have aprons for that, right?"

"Oh... right. I forgot. I guess I'm not cut out for all this kitchen work."

"Don't worry about it, cuz, everybody has their good and bad areas. Maybe we can get Sam to work in here next time."

"Why Sam?"

"It's a very well known fact that there's not a single big man on the planet who can't cook. Why do you think Ray let me do the cooking?"

As Tito brought up the name of the late Ray Rocket, Reggie began to stop in her tracks, stopping and reflecting on the loss of her father in the very place she was standing in. Tito, realizing his mistake, immediately rushed to her and tried to comfort her from her feeling of loss.

"Oh, cuz, I'm sorry. I know you miss him, I miss him too-" Tito began to say.

"It's okay, Tito. I'm okay." Reggie said.

"Do you wanna take a break, or something? Do you need a minute?"

"No, I'm fine. Let's just get through the day."

Pushing herself on through the day, Reggie and Tito continued to work through their shift, hoping to finish through the large line of customers.

* * *

About an hour later, after the line had finally died down and Otto and Twister had greeted their fans, the four friends finally met up at the Shore Shack, the group eating alone to reflect on their day.

"Well, another day, another bunch of customers, another bunch of fans." Sam said.

"You said it, I can't believe we're finally popular after all this work trying to get big on NewTube." Otto said.

"Well, if it wasn't for the fact that we all stopped a huge conspiracy to turn our town into a giant theme park, that wouldn't have happened, wouldn't it?" Reggie said.

"Yeah, that was probably the best thing that happened to us." Twister said.

"Twister, our whole town almost got taken over. That's not a good thing." Sam said.

"Well, yeah, I'm just saying, it's good that we stopped them, and it's good Ocean Shores is all back to normal again."

"Yeah, I'll give you that, things are back to normal."

"You know, Twist, this all reminds me of back when you were talking about Ocean Shores not having anybody in it. I guess you were right after all, it _is_ a lot better having people back in Ocean Shores, even if they're all Shoobies." Otto said.

"Oh, yeah, I remember when I said that, it was back when-" Twister began to say.

"Back when what?"

"...when you went to that dinner party with your dad."

After reminding Otto and Reggie of that unfortunate night, bringing them both some discomfort, Twister immediately began to regret bringing up that particular detail.

"Oh, crap, guys, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" Twister began to say.

"No, Twister, it's okay, I was actually starting to think about him today. I still miss him." Reggie said.

"I do too. What really hurts is... I just can't stop thinking about the last time I saw him. We both yelled at each other in a huge fight. I still can't get over that. It's like we just... ended on such a bad note. I don't even know if he was still angry or not." Otto said.

Inadvertantly listening in on the conversation was Noelani, heading up to check on the group, who was also missing Ray just as much as the group. Holding onto a certain piece of information that the group needed to hear, Noelani stepped in to share it.

"He wasn't still mad at you, Otto." Noelani said.

"What? How do you know that?" Otto asked.

"He went to your house to apologize after that fight. He left you this note. I didn't know when was the right time to show it to you, but this is what he left you."

Noelani took a note out of her pocket, handing it to Otto to read. Looking at the small but wordy note, Otto took his time to take in each and every word that his father had left for him.

" _Hi, Otto. I know you don't want to talk to me right now, or maybe not at all anymore, but I wanna tell you something. You're right. You are right. I shouldn't butt myself into your life, trying to tell you how to live. I'm sorry. I wanted you to be successful, to be better than me, but I couldn't see that it's not about what I want. It's about what you want. It's about living your life how you wanna live it. I wasn't respectful of that. I'm sorry. I tried to push you away from your passions and tried to push you to be something you're not. I wasn't supportive of you and your own decisions. I punished you when I should've had a talk with you about how to deal with your problems instead, to give you advice on what to do in hard times. I took the easy way out as a parent. I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to help make the transition easy when Noelani came home to live with us. I should've understood your feelings rather than focus too much on my own. I understand now that the marriage wasn't just about my own happiness, it was about yours too. I'm sorry. I'm sorry about all of it. I left this note to say that I'm not going to run your life anymore. I'll leave you alone. It's what I should've done when you left. I left this note to say goodbye and good luck, and you have my full support on whatever you want to do with your life, no matter what. I love you, son._ " The note read _._

After finishing reading the note, Otto did something that he had never done in almost happened to him in his entire life. After finishing reading the note, Otto began to cry.

While he had put up a good fight on keeping back his emotions, Otto finally succumbed to his emotions, letting out a large wave of emotions towards his father's last goodbye.

Noelani and Reggie, also missing Ray as much as he was, both came to comfort him, allowing him to let out his tears as he needed.

"Wow, dude... I don't think you've ever cried like that, ever. Are you okay?" Twister asked.

"Yeah, dude... I think I'm finally good now. I thought Raymundo- that dad still hated me, but no. I just wish that it didn't have to go down like it did." Otto said.

" _I do, too_." A voice said.

The group all turned to see the source of the voice, all met with the unexpected surprise of Dax Jett standing before the group, reappearing after a long absence.

"Dax? What are you doing here?" Otto asked.

"Came to handle a few things, one of which was giving back your Alva board. I found it in our stuff." Dax said.

Dax handed Otto the Alva board that he won from Randy Raucous, now fully fixed up from the wear it had received from its past user and ready for more abuse from its new owner.

"I heard a lot of good things about Ocean Shores recently, so I wanted to take a look at how things were doing myself. Really surprised that things got like this now, looks a lot better than even I remember it. You guys' star power really cleaned up this place." Dax said.

"Well, thanks, man. Things've been really cool." Twister said.

"But I am still sorry about what happened to Ray. I've been trying to do right since then."

"Oh, yeah? How?" Otto asked.

"Been staying down in the Caribbean islands, helping out workers and farmers, stuff like that. Beats being in a prison cell. Wes always talked about going down to Central America. I can see why he always talked about it."

"Sounds like a good excuse for a vacation. I could probably use one, take my mind off things here. What do you think, maybe somewhere like Norway, get some snowboarding action?"

"No, man, forget anything like that. You guys don't deserve to be held down by gravity. You know what you ought to be doing."

"We don't have the hoverboards anymore, dude. The F.B.I. took 'em all."

Dax approached Otto and placed a piece of paper in his hand, closing his palm around it.

"They took the golden egg, but not the goose. You can take it from there. Good luck to you guys." Dax said.

Otto, curious about the note, opened it and read its contents. The note enclosed held an address somewhere in Nevada, out near the desert.

"Dax, man, is this what I think it is-" Otto began to ask.

Before Otto could ask his question, Dax was long gone, leaving the group once to continue living his own life in peace, allowing the group to go their own way.

"What? What did he give you?" Sam asked.

"It's an address in Nevada. I think it's where he's keeping the tech that he used to make the hoverboards. If we get it, we could make our own hoverboards again. I mean, you could do it, right, Sam?" Otto asked.

"Well... yeah, I can, but in Nevada? That's a ways away. We've still got the Shore Shack to handle."

"We can handle the Shore Shack here. If this is something important, I think you guys should handle it." Noelani said.

"Are you sure? You were having a lot of trouble today, even with our help."

"Ancient Hawaiian saying: No matter how much lava the volcano releases, the ocean will always stay strong to pacify it."

"I don't believe it, _you're_ doing Hawaiian sayings, too?" Otto asked.

"Everyone in our family knows them. Tito just loved them the most."

"Well, either way, if they're okay with being left on their own, we'd better get started and try to find this tech." Sam said.

"Hey, wait a second, it just occurred to me, if we, like, stopped all those bad guys and saved Ocean Shores, doesn't that make us superheroes? Like those guys in Hillwood?" Twister asked.

"That's a weird thing to ask, Twister, but, now that you mention it, we may not be those super-powered guys in Hillwood, nor have any costumes, but we did beat a bunch of super bad guys, and I guess that counts enough. Why do you ask?"

"Well, those guys in Hillwood are called the Hillwood Heroes. Shouldn't we have a cool name like that too?"

"We got one dude, Team Rocket, remember?." Otto said.

"Yeah, but that was all the past, before we all get back together again. Besides, way too many people keep saying that our name sounds like Pokemon, and I hate Pokemon."

"Well, what do you suggest we call ourselves?"

"Well, since Hillwood has those guys named the Hillwood Heroes, how about we call ourselves... The Ocean Shores Superdudes?"

Upon hearing Twister's poor idea for a name, the remaining three immediately burst out laughing.

"No offense, dude, but that's the lamest name I've ever heard." Otto said.

"What about... the Ocean Shores Sharks?" Sam suggested.

"Considering what happened with Lars, that's probably in bad taste, no pun intended." Reggie said.

"Then how about: 'The Ottoman Empire'?" Otto suggested.

"...I take it back, _that_ one's in bad taste."

"What, is it too conceited or something?"

"Kind of, but you do know that the real Ottoman Empire committed the Armenian Genocide, the genocide that coined the word 'genocide'? You know, they talked about it in history class?"

"...Oh. No, I didn't. I fell asleep during that part."

"Besides, my name's the best. The Ocean Shores Skater Squad."

"And I thought Twister's was lame." Sam said.

"Well, if you think it's lame, I hope you enjoy sleeping on the couch for the next few days."

Trying to find a good name for their group, the four continued their friendly banters and suggestions, trying to find a name that could unite them all. Having an idea of his own, Tito stepped in and cleared his throat, gathering the group's attention.

"Ancient Hawaiian saying; I always had a feeling about..." Tito began to say.

Awaiting the suggestion to be made, the group leaned in closer to hear Tito's idea, curious about what he could suggest.

"... _Rocket Power_." Tito finished.

Everyone unanimously liking the name, the group was immediately sold, all nodding in agreement of their new team name.

"Rocket Power. Sounds like a catcher to me." Sam said.

"Yeah, dude, it's got a ring to it." Otto said.

"Sounds good to me." Twister said.

"It hooks." Reggie said.

The team, all unanimously agreeing on their new team name, shared their special handshake, saying 'Woogity woogity woogity!' as they did so, just as they always did and always will.

Upon finishing their handshake, the four threw their fists up in the air, all shouting their new name in pride.

"Rocket Power!" The team shouted.

As the newly founded team completed their victorious cheer, the group began to take a moment to reflect on their special moment, hopefully one of much more to come. Before the moment could continue on further, however, Otto rose from the table, having one more surprise for the group.

"Otto? What's up?" Twister asked.

"I almost forgot, I wanted to show you something. Since we're a team now and stuff, I figured this would be a good time to show you guys a little something I did." Otto said.

"You did something for us? As in, you actually did something for another person and not yourself?" Reggie asked.

"Well, not so much as just for you guys, but for someone else. Follow me, you'll see."

Not sure what Otto had in store for the others, the group began following him as they requested, skeptical about what he could have planned. The thought of Otto, a man as selfish as he was, doing something with another in mind was an extremely strange thought to the group.

"Okay, you guys remember when I told you I'd take on painting the new Shore Shack?" Otto asked.

"Yeah." Reggie said.

"Well, I hope you guys don't mind, but I took a few liberties on the job. Check this out."

As Otto led the group behind the Shore Shack, they all found themselves looking upon a giant painting laid upon the back wall of the restaurant. Many gasps were let out, several tears had fallen, but all had their hearts warmed at the sight of Otto's painting.

"Wow... Otto, you did this yourself?" Sam asked.

"Yep. Took me all night, three hours of NewTube painting tutorials, and a shitload of spraypaint cans, but I landed it." Otto said.

"That's really good work, dude." Twister said.

"That's... really nice, Otto. It's beautiful." Reggie said, tearing up.

"It's breathtaking, Otto. This is just wonderful." Noelani said.

Proud of the hard work that he had given to the project, Tito gave Otto a hearty pat on the back, expressing his immeasurable pride in his best friend's son.

"That's some great work, cuz. Ray woulda loved it." Tito said.

"I know." Otto said.

Taking their time to gaze upon Otto's painting, the group continued to watch it, all feeling their hearts move with the picture. Otto's painting was a graffiti-style portrait of Ray Rocket, holding Otto and Reggie in his arms, Tito standing over his left shoulder, and Noelani standing over his right. Above the whole painting read: IN LOVING MEMORY OF: RAYMUNDO ROCKET. WORLD-FAMOUS SURFER, EXPERT FRY COOK, FATHER TO OTTO AND REGGIE ROCKET.

"Goodbye, dad. I'm sure gonna miss you." Otto said.

[Soundtrack Cue: Ugly Kid Joe - Cat's in the Cradle; Plays Out]


	21. Epilogue

**EPILOGUE**

In an undisclosed location in the Nevada desert, there laid a small cave blocked off from the outside world, holding inside of it a special item stolen by the Rippers. No one had discovered this remote location, not even by accident, leaving the contents inside unseen by the outside world.

A group of four now, now calling themselves Rocket Power, received the location to this technology, seeking to use it to create their own hoverboards once again. After setting up numerous explosions around the entrance of the cave, Sam prepared to blast open the cave and discover the contents inside.

"Okay, this is going to be loud, are you guys ready?" Sam asked.

"Ready as we'll ever be, Squid, just blow it!" Otto said.

Complying with Otto's request, Sam activated the trigger on the explosives, blasting open the entrance to the cave. With the surrounding rubble and rock beginning to fall and tumble, the entrance to the cave opened up, the treasure inside ready to be taken by the group.

Rocket Power, heading inside the cave, all pulled out various flashlights, shedding illumination in the room to explore it in full.

"So, what do you think this stuff that the Rippers built their boards with is? Some kind of secret Cold War project?" Otto asked.

"Yeah, right, something like that shouldn't have existed then, let alone still work from the 60's. It's gotta be some kind of secret government project." Reggie said.

"Isn't that the same as my theory?"

"No, you said 'Cold War', meaning it was made in the 60's. My theory was 'some kind of government project' in present tense, as in, it's something new."

"That's really not much different."

"What? Yes, it is, do you have any idea how many new technological things came out since the 60's?"

"Like what?"

"Well... I don't know any specific ones right this second, but there's been a lot, trust me."

"What if this thing's from the future, or maybe outer space?" Twister asked.

Upon hearing his unlikely suggestion about the origin of the unknown technology, Otto and Reggie turned to Twister with unimpressed looks towards his ideas.

"Twist, do you have _any_ idea how unlikely either of those sound?" Otto asked.

"Yeah, Twister, how likely is it going to be that it's an alien spaceship or something like that?" Reggie said.

"Well... it could happen." Twister said.

"Okay, guys, focus now. I think we're getting close." Sam said.

Just as he finished his sentence, Sam walked head-first into a large, unknown object, something that obviously would not normally be in a cave. Upon stepping back, shining sufficient light on it, Sam was unable to distinguish what the object was, never having seen anything like it before.

The object was a red metal enclosure that strongly resembled a ship, with a large glass front, one seat, and several spikes out of the back. On the left side was a strange symbol: A small circle with two angled lines over the top, vaguely resembling a head of a bug of some kind.

Rocket Power, never having seen anything like the sight before their eyes, all stared at the strange object in shock.

"Dude... what the hell is that?" Otto asked.

" _That, is an alien spaceship_." A voice said.

The team all turned to the sound of the voice, all meeting with a man they had never before met. The man was tall and slender, wearing a trench coat, his hair slicked into a blade-like form, with an unusually large head.

"Who the hell are you?" Otto asked.

"My name's Dib Membrane. My father is the owner of Membrane Laboratories. That right there is our property, a ship belonging to an alien named 'Tak', a member of the Irken race. I came down here to find it, only to find that a few individuals got the idea to turn it into anti-gravity gear. Choosing skateboards was a bit of a funny choice, but, hey, if it works, it works." The man said.

"So, what do you want?"

"It seems that these Irkens have gotten themselves an eye for this planet. In response, I'm looking for people like you to help save this world from these invaders. Are you in?"

The group all stopped to contemplate Dib's offer, pondering whether they should align themselves with this stranger or not.

"Dude, I told you this thing was from space." Twister said.

* * *

 _Author's note: All dialogue in brackets [like this] represents when the characters are speaking in Spanish._

Somewhere on the beaches of Mexico, a young woman strolled by on the sand, taking in the sights and pleasures of the ocean; feeling the ocean breeze lightly caressing her face and the salty wind leaving its taste in her mouth.

While enjoying the sights and sensations of the beach, this young woman noticed something peculiar on the beach, the object appearing just out of the corner of her eye. Upon giving further attention to this foreign object, the young woman soon realized that the strange object she was looking at was a human body, not able to discern whether it was alive or dead.

Showing concern for this stranger, the woman immediately rushed to aid whoever the person was, hoping that they were still alive. Little did she know, however, was that this was the absolute last person on Earth anyone would want alive.

"[Oh, my god, are you alright? Please say something!]" The woman called.

Acting unexpectedly, the body grabbed the woman by the throat and pulled her face to his own seaweed-covered face, expressing extreme anger and pain through his bloodshot eyes. After the seaweed fell from his face, the stranger was revealed to be Lars Rodriguez, still alive and as well as he could be.

Finally managing to retain as much of his consciousness as he could, Lars finally answered the woman's question.

"[Am I alright? _AM I ALRIGHT?! A FUCKING SHARK ATE MY COCK, YOU DUMB BITCH!_ ]" Lars shouted.

 **ROCKET POWER WILL RETURN IN:**

 **"NICKTOONS UNITE"**

* * *

 **COMING ATTRACTION**

In a house resting in the small town of Plainville, Minnedakota, two children scurry about a particular room of the house, seeking out information about its previous owner.

One child is an adventurous young girl named Carolina, better known as Carol, the other an Autistic, comic-book loving boy named Carlos. While Carol was more than eager to explore the room, Carlos was not at all pleased to be inside the room.

Carlos, disapproving of Carol's antics, gave a disagreeing grunt.

"I know _mama_ said not to be in here, but I'm just far too interested to know about this 'Rudy Tabootie' person. They say he disappeared a long time ago, and no one ever found him." Carol said.

Carlos gave an indifferent grunt, showing he did not care about the mystery of this 'Rudy Tabootie' person.

"Come on, Carlos, this is the same person who wrote those vampire comics you like. Don't you wanna see who he was? Maybe you could find something to add to your collection, like some artwork or an unfinished issue. Wouldn't you like that?" Carol asked.

Upon hearing the promise of unfinished comic work to add to his collection, Carlos' position of defiance quickly changed to an instant agreement.

"Well, come on, then, help me look around." Carol said.

Carlos began looking around the room with his sister, hoping to find more information about this strange 'Rudy Tabootie' character, and some of his unpublished works.

After looking underneath the bed, however, Carlos found something peculiar that seemed like it didn't belong in any comic book writer's room: a stick of chalk.

Reaching under the bed and grasping the chalk in his hand, Carlos pulled out the stick of chalk, examining it carefully.

"Carlos, what are you doing? It's just a piece of chalk." Carol said.

Carlos began moving the chalk in the air, signalling that he wanted to start drawing with it.

"Carlos, we don't have time for this. We can't stay up too long, or _mama_ will know we were snooping around here." Carol said.

Carlos let out a frustrated grunt and continued moving his chalk in the air, flapping his other hand, insisting that he receive a board to draw on.

"Okay, okay, fine, let me find you something to draw on." Carol said.

After looking around the room for a chalkboard to draw on, Carol found one knocked onto the floor, placing it back up for Carlos to draw on. With the chalkboard placed upright, Carlos immediately walked up and began to draw on it, letting out the urge to draw.

"You really pick the worst times to draw, Carlos. That reminds me of the one time you wanted to draw in the middle of that Reptar movie and nearly got us thrown out-" Carol began to say.

Before Carol could finish her sentence, she noticed a beam of light coming from Carlos' direction, not knowing what the source of the light was. Upon looking towards the source of the light, Carol saw that the light was coming from the chalkboard itself, much to her surprise. Carlos, equally as surprised, immediately stopped in his tracks, looking at the light in surprise, hopping up and down and shaking his hands.

"Carlos... What did you do?" Carol asked.

Carlos let out an 'I don't know' grunt, shaking his head as he did so.

"Well, how did it happen?" Carol asked.

Carlos waved his chalk into the air, pretending to draw with it, then pointed to the light.

"So it just came out when you were drawing?" Carol asked.

Carlos nodded.

"Well, what do we do now?" Carol asked.

Letting his curiosity get the better of him, Carlos began to draw a circle on the board, more light beginning to appear from the lines drawn.

Upon completing the circle, a huge burst of light was let into the room, nearly blinding Carlos and forcing him to step back to recover from his sensory overload. Upon finally composing himself, Carlos put on his sunglasses and reapproached the chalkboard, finding a new sight that he never would have expected to see before, with Carol looking upon the strange sight within the chalkboard in surprise as well.

"Carlos... we are in so much trouble." Carol said.

 **CONTINUES IN:**

 **CHALKZONE: QUEST FOR THE GOLDEN CHALK**

* * *

 _If_ _you liked this story, make sure to give it a review and favorite it so I know I'm doing a good job. If you didn't like it, review it anyway telling me what you didn't like so I know what to work on._

 _Courtesy,_

 _Your friendly neighborhood DevilBoy216._


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